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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Style: Mid-Century Modern
Creator: Ado Chale
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
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
Huge Bronze sphere by Ado Chale mid modern century
By Ado Chale
Located in Bruxelles, BE
Ado Chale’s Bronze Sphere
This captivating bronze sphere, a testament to the artistic genius of Ado Chale, exudes timeless elegance. Crafted with meticulous attention to detail, it ...
Category
1980s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ado Chale Furniture
Materials
Bronze
Round Ado Chale Coffee Table, Oeil de Tigre, Belgium
By Ado Chale
Located in Brussels, BE
Round Ado Chale Coffee Table, Oeil de Tigre, Belgium
Category
1970s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ado Chale Furniture
Materials
Metal
Dining Table Goutte d'Eau by Ado Chale, Bronze, Belgium - Signed, 1970s
By Ado Chale
Located in Brussels, BE
Dining Table Goutte d'Eau by Ado Chale, Bronze, Belgium - Signed
Category
1970s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ado Chale Furniture
Materials
Bronze
Ado Châle Table “Goutte D’eau” Bronze Belgium 1980 Signed
By Ado Chale
Located in Paris, FR
Ado châle table “goutte d’eau” bronze Belgium circa 1980 signed.
Iconic bronze table "goutte d'eau "by Belgium artist ado Chale. 3 feet in metal
Very good...
Category
Mid-20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Ado Chale Furniture
Materials
Metal, Bronze
Circular high pedestal table by Ado Chale, Belgium
By Ado Chale
Located in Brussels, 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
Black Resin and Agate Coffee Table by Ado Chale
By Ado Chale
Located in London, GB
Black resin coffee table sitting on a wooden base with inset agate, designed by Ado Chale. Signed 'Chale' to the front with a ruby.
Ado Chale ...
Category
1960s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ado Chale Furniture
Materials
Resin
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
Ado Chale Rare Coffee Table in Petrified Wood and Steel, Belgium, 1968
By Ado Chale
Located in New York, NY
Ado Chale (b. 1928)
An early and exceptional organic coffee table by Ado Chale. Chale’s iconic tripod base, in enameled steel, supports a gleaming cross section of petrified Arizo...
Category
1960s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ado Chale Furniture
Materials
Metal
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Previously Available Items
Large Ado Chale Coffee Table, Oeil de Tigre, Belgium
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Large Ado Chale Coffee Table, Oeil de Tigre, Belgium
Metalworker by training, Belgian designer Ado Chale discovered mineralogy during a journey in Germany in the 1950’s. He cultivated his passion alongside his wife, Huguette Schaal, who became a gemologist herself. Together they traveled the world in search of semi-precious stones and rare materials to create decorative items as well as exceptional and unique pieces of furniture.
More than a designer, Ado Chale can also be designate as a skilled craftsman and alchemist, always researching and experimenting combinations of chemicals that would allow him to give shape to his ideas.
From Brussels to Montréal, from Paris to Tokyo, Ado Chale was invited to exhibit his works internationally and became an emblematic figure of the world of art and design. Chale's creations notoriously attracts a sophisticated clientele and is much appreciated by members of the aristocracy in Belgium and all over the world as well as by representatives of the Haute Couture such as Dior...
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Backlit cocktail table by Ado Chale
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Signed.
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Agate relief by Ado Chale – Cast bronze coffee table
By Ado Chale
Located in Brussels, 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.
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Goutte d’eau 'Teardrop' by Ado Chale, Pair of High Tables or Pedestal Tables
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Located in Brussels, BE
Pair of high tables in cast bronze of slightly different heights.
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Goutte d’eau 'Teardorp' by Ado Chale, Cast Aluminum Coffee Table
By Ado Chale
Located in Brussels, BE
Large square “Goutte d’eau” coffee table with rounded corners.
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Set of Three Fossilized Arizona Sequoia Coffee Tables by Ado Chale
By Ado Chale
Located in Brussels, BE
Set of three tables in fossilized wood. The wood chosen here by the artist is Sequoia from Arizona.
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Pocket Emptier by Ado Chale, Solid Cast Bronze
By Ado Chale
Located in Brussels, 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 Signed Sculptural Cast Aluminum Vide-Poche, circa 1970, Belgium
By Ado Chale
Located in Brussels, BE
Nice sculptural Ado Chale bowl, designed circa 1970, Belgium.
Cast and polished aluminum signed Chale on the inner rim.
Dimensions: 16 cm W, 14 cm D, 5 cm H.
Original vintage item.
A...
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Ado Chale Signed Polished Bronze Console, circa 1970, Belgium
By Ado Chale
Located in Brussels, BE
Ado Chale rare cast bronze console table, 1973, Belgium.
Smooth console model in gold polished bronze top, 2 independent tripod feet in black lacquered steel.
Bronze signature Chale ...
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Set of Three Cast Solid Bronze Trinket Bowls by Ado Chale, Belgium
By Ado Chale
Located in Brussels, BE
About this set of three cast solid bronze trinket bowls by Ado Chale
Very nice set of three bowls or trinket bowls in cast bronze.
Of different sizes, the three bowls form a very e...
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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.