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Ado Chale Furniture

Known to some as “the alchemist of high minerals,” Ado Chale uses semi-precious stones, metals and organic materials like fossilized sequoia and redwoods in his marvelous tables and decorative objects. Over the course of his long career, the prolific Belgian designer, sculptor and decorator turned a passion for mineralogy and love for the natural world into elegant, sculptural furniture.

Born Adolphe Pelsener in Brussels in 1928, the designer learned cabinetry from his woodworker father and trained in ironwork at a young age under local blacksmiths. During a trip to Germany in the late 1950s, he became enamored with minerals, and turned his attention to creating seating, tables and other furnishings with a range of unconventional materials.

At the beginning of the 1960s, Pelsener changed his name to Ado Chale and opened a gallery in Brussels with his wife, a gemologist named Huguette Schaal. He began to create sophisticated mosaic inlays for tabletops using pyrite fragments. He worked with malachite and turquoise and also worked in metal, producing decorative objects and furniture like his iconic aluminum goutte d’eau coffee tables. Chale used epoxy resin to lend his tables an opulent sheen. His incorporation of exquisite natural materials like agate and petrified wood rendered his furniture unlike anything else. Chale’s work was soon in high demand — his clientele included the Belgian royal family and notable architects and designers like Alberto Pinto, Peter Marino and Jacques Grange.

In 1967, Chale’s designs were included in the Universal Exhibition in Montreal. In the decades since, he has continued to exhibit his work, including at the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels in 2017.

On 1stDibs, find a range of vintage Ado Chale tables, lighting and more.

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Creator: Ado Chale
Ado Chale, "Goutte D’eau" Coffee Table, Aluminum, Black Metal, Belgium, 1970s
By Ado Chale
Located in High Point, NC
A "Goutte D’eau", aluminum and black metal coffee table designed and produced by Ado Chale, Brussels, Belgium, 1970s.
Category

1970s Belgian Modern Vintage Ado Chale Furniture

Materials

Metal, Aluminum

Ado Chale 'Goutte d’Eau' Coffee Table in Aluminium
By Ado Chale
Located in Waalwijk, NL
Ado Chale, Goutte d’Eau coffee table, cast aluminum, lacquered steel, Belgium, 1978 The Goutte D’Eau coffee table is exemplary for Ado Chale’s exceptional talent in creating interio...
Category

1970s Belgian Post-Modern Vintage Ado Chale Furniture

Materials

Aluminum, Steel

Dining or center table by Ado Chale
By Ado Chale
Located in Uccle, BE
Dining or center table by Ado Chale. Large dining table or center table with a resin top inlaid with Carnelian agate stones. Equipped with a double tripod foot with wide spacer. (Six...
Category

Mid-20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Ado Chale Furniture

Materials

Carnelian

Ado Chale Early "Goutte d'Eau" Coffee Table in Bronze Signed, Belgium 1970s
By Ado Chale
Located in New York, NY
Ado Chale early rare "Goutte d'eau" oval coffee table with cast bronze table top on two sets of tripod black lacquered metal bases. This exquisite sculptural coffee table was made by...
Category

1970s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ado Chale Furniture

Materials

Bronze, Steel

Mid-Century Modern Lamp in Petrifies Wood by Ado Chale
By Ado Chale
Located in London, GB
This fine quality brass table lamp with one light, which directs a beam onto a large slab of petrified wood. Signed to base. There were only around five of these examples ever made ...
Category

1970s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ado Chale Furniture

Materials

Petrified Wood

Circular high pedestal table by Ado Chale, Belgium
By Ado Chale
Located in Uccle, BE
High circular pedestal table, in black resin inlaid with bone marquetry arranged in 4 circles of abstract design. The top resting on a large tripod foot with round sections, the rou...
Category

20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Ado Chale Furniture

Materials

Resin

Ado Chale Circular Coffee Table Black Resin and Petrified Wood
By Ado Chale
Located in Brussels, BE
Ado Chale circular coffee table black resin and Arizona petrified wood, circa 1980, signed by the artist. Very good condition.
Category

1980s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ado Chale Furniture

Materials

Stone

Black Lacquered Resin Table by Ado Chale, Belgium
By Ado Chale
Located in Brussels, BE
Black Lacquered Resin Table by Ado Chale, Belgium
Category

Late 20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Ado Chale Furniture

Materials

Resin

1980s Pastilles Illuminating Coffee table by Ado Chale
By Ado Chale
Located in Paris, FR
Ado Chale ‘‘Pastilles’’ illuminated coffee table, 1983 Mosaic of cornaline agate stones and resin H. 35 x 150ø cm Son of a woodworker, Ado Chale spent his formative years in the Belgian countryside and began working with metal at a young age, training initially as an iron-worker. In the 1950s, he began working with sheet metal on which he would test various methods of printing with enamel. However, it was on a trip to Germany that he found his true passion: mineralogy. Stones, precious and semi-precious as well as fossils and other natural minerals, became the focal point of his self-taught artistic path. In 1961, Chale opened a mineral shop in Brussels where he showed his first creations featuring inclusions of marcasite, a dark stone he discovered on the beaches of the Cape of Blanc- Nez in northern France. By 1965, these creations had garnered significant attention and he began to widen the range of his creations. He began working with a great variety of stones and fossilized wood and developing new techniques, one of the most remarkable of which is featured in the ‘‘Pastilles’’ coffee table: the integration of light. Noticing the transformation of certain stones when lit from a certain angle, Chale aimed to demonstrate the delicate details that remained hidden without this illumination. With this objective in mind, he began integrating lighting systems beneath the mosaic tops of his coffee tables, a rare technique of which Chale was a true pioneer. Beyond the striking effect achieved through the illumination of his tables, Chale’s mastery in mosaic resulted in truly unique tabletops - no two mosaics exactly the same. Over the years, Chale’s creations found their way into some of the world’s most prestigious collections, both private and public, including those of the British royal family, the King of Saudi Arabia, Belgium’s King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola, and Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. 2014 marked the 50th anniversary of Ado Chale’s creation, an occasion celebrated with a landmark exhibition at the Galerie Yves Gastou.
Category

1980s Belgian Futurist Vintage Ado Chale Furniture

Materials

Agate

Sphere by Ado Chale
By Ado Chale
Located in Uccle, BE
“Sphere”, bronze sculpture by Ado Chale. The bronze sphere features subtle undulations that add to its character and appeal. The smooth surface of the bronze catches the light, high...
Category

Mid-20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Ado Chale Furniture

Materials

Bronze

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Previously Available Items
Ado Chale Oval Dining Table with Mosaic Top in Jade Wyoming
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Round Ado Chale Coffee Table, Oeil de Tigre, Belgium
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Dining Table Goutte d'Eau by Ado Chale, Bronze, Belgium - Signed, 1970s
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Agate relief by Ado Chale – Cast bronze coffee table
By Ado Chale
Located in Uccle, BE
Bronze coffee table resting on two black painted steel tripod legs. The model named “agate relief” represents a molding of a resin table inlaid with agate produced by the artist.
Category

Mid-20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Ado Chale Furniture

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Bronze

Goutte d’eau 'Teardrop' by Ado Chale, Pair of High Tables or Pedestal Tables
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Located in Uccle, BE
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Goutte d’eau 'Teardorp' by Ado Chale, Cast Aluminum Coffee Table
By Ado Chale
Located in Uccle, BE
Large square “Goutte d’eau” coffee table with rounded corners. The top rests on four tripod legs in black painted steel. The model is named by the artist “Goutte d’eau” because it ...
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Set of Three Fossilized Arizona Sequoia Coffee Tables by Ado Chale
By Ado Chale
Located in Uccle, BE
Set of three tables in fossilized wood. The wood chosen here by the artist is Sequoia from Arizona. Each slice of Sequoia rests on a black painted steel tripod foot of slightly diff...
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Pocket Emptier by Ado Chale, Solid Cast Bronze
By Ado Chale
Located in Uccle, BE
Acquired in 1974 by the previous owners, this solid cast bronze pocket emptier has a pretty and charming patina. Signed with a diamond point “Chale...
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Ado Chale furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Ado Chale furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of metal and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Ado Chale furniture, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original furniture by Ado Chale were created in the mid-century modern style in europe during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by Jean Claude Dresse, Lova Creations, and Etienne Allemeersch. Prices for Ado Chale furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $2,943 and can go as high as $105,000, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $28,538.
Questions About Ado Chale Furniture
  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
    While both pieces are relatively new to the furniture world, the main difference between them are their shapes. A cocktail table is generally square or rectangular in shape, while a coffee table tends to be oval or circular in shape. You can shop a collection of furniture from some of the world’s top sellers on 1stDibs.

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