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Ado Chale Dessert Tables and Tilt-top Tables

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
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...
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20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Ado Chale Dessert Tables and Tilt-top Tables

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Resin

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Ado Chale dessert tables and tilt-top tables for sale on 1stDibs.

Ado Chale dessert tables and tilt-top tables are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of resin and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Ado Chale dessert tables and tilt-top tables, although black editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original dessert tables and tilt-top tables by Ado Chale were created in the mid-century modern style in europe during the 20th century. Prices for Ado Chale dessert tables and tilt-top tables can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $43,755 and can go as high as $43,755, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $43,755.

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