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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
Circular high pedestal table by Ado Chale, Belgium
Circular high pedestal table by Ado Chale, Belgium

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 "Goutte d'Eau" Bronze Coffee Table Signed, Belgium, 1970s, Certificate
Ado Chale "Goutte d'Eau" Bronze Coffee Table Signed, Belgium, 1970s, Certificate

Ado Chale "Goutte d'Eau" Bronze Coffee Table Signed, Belgium, 1970s, Certificate

By Ado Chale

Located in New York, NY

Early and rare “Goutte d’Eau” oval coffee table by Belgian artisan and designer Ado Chale, created in the late 1970s. This sculptural piece features a finely cast bronze tabletop res...

Category

1970s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ado Chale Furniture

Materials

Bronze, Steel

Ado Chale Coffee table 'Relief of Polished Agates'
Ado Chale Coffee table 'Relief of Polished Agates'

Ado Chale Coffee table 'Relief of Polished Agates'

By Ado Chale

Located in New York, NY

Ado Chale (1928-2025) Coffee table - 'Relief of Polished Agates' model Cast bronze and lacquered steel Engraved 'Chale' on the edge of the tabletop Model created circa 1980 H 32 × W ...

Category

1980s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ado Chale Furniture

Materials

Bronze

Mid-Century Modern Lamp in Petrifies Wood by Ado Chale
Mid-Century Modern Lamp in Petrifies Wood by Ado Chale

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

Coffee Table with Fossil Wood Inlay, Resin Top, Patinated Steel Base France 1970
Coffee Table with Fossil Wood Inlay, Resin Top, Patinated Steel Base France 1970

Coffee Table with Fossil Wood Inlay, Resin Top, Patinated Steel Base France 1970

By Ado Chale

Located in Milano, IT

Ado Chale (France, circa 1970) Coffee Table with Fossil Wood Resin top, fossil wood inlay, patinated steel base, and ruby details 99.5 × 35.5 cm (H) A remarkable coffee table by Ado ...

Category

1970s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ado Chale Furniture

Materials

Steel

Ado Chale, Black Resin, Agate, Coffee Table, Belgium, 1990s
Ado Chale, Black Resin, Agate, Coffee Table, Belgium, 1990s

Ado Chale, Black Resin, Agate, Coffee Table, Belgium, 1990s

By Ado Chale

Located in Stamford, CT

Ado Chale, Belgian Mid-Century Modern, Black Resin, Agate, Coffee Table, Belgium, 1990s A rare coffee table designed and produced by Ado Chale in Belgium in the later half of the 20...

Category

20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Ado Chale Furniture

Materials

Agate

Black Lacquered Resin Table by Ado Chale, Belgium
Black Lacquered Resin Table by Ado Chale, Belgium

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

Coffee Table by Ado Chale, Resin and Marcassite, Belgium, 1960s
Coffee Table by Ado Chale, Resin and Marcassite, Belgium, 1960s

Coffee Table by Ado Chale, Resin and Marcassite, Belgium, 1960s

By Ado Chale

Located in Brussels, BE

Coffee Table by Ado Chale, Resin and Marcassite, Belgium, 1960s

Category

1960s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ado Chale Furniture

Materials

Stone

1980s Pastilles Illuminating Coffee table by Ado Chale
1980s Pastilles Illuminating Coffee table by Ado Chale

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

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Located in Brussels, BE

Ado Chale work puts naturalistic materials at the centre of his creation. The present lamp presents a petrified wood stone, rich in colors. Chale created the made to measure solid br...

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Suite of four “vide poche”in bronze by Ado Chale mi
Suite of four “vide poche”in bronze by Ado Chale mi

Suite of four “vide poche”in bronze by Ado Chale mi

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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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