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Shiro Kuramata Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Japanese, 1934-1991

Few designers have blended Minimalism and Surrealism into artistic furniture as successfully as Shiro Kuramata. His experimentation with form, function, color and motif informed cabinets, chairs and side tables that are as mystifying as they are visually striking. 

Born in Tokyo in 1934, Kuruamata studied at the Kuwasawa Design School. In the 1970s and ’80s, he explored industrial materials in his designs. Inspired by Italian architect and designer Ettore Sottsass, Kuramata produced irreverent and bold work. In 1981, Kuramata joined Sottsass in his founding of the Memphis Group, named for a Bob Dylan song. The Milan-based collective aimed to turn the status quo on its head and redefine what was considered appealing in modern furniture style.

His experience with the Memphis Group led Kuramata to embrace unconventional optical effects. No piece embodies this more skillfully than the Miss Blanche chair. Crafted with transparent resin and flecked with rose-petal flecks, it gives the illusion that the sitter is floating.

The How High the Moon armchair is a prime example of his playful nature and willingness to challenge the expectations for furniture design. Including shards of colored glass in concrete surfaces, his “star piece” material was prevalent throughout his work, giving the tops of his end tables and coffee tables a brazen, gem-encrusted appearance. His daring approach to design can also be seen in pieces like his sheer glass bookcases with their seemingly fragile shelves.

Kuramata created many visual delights before his death in 1991. His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. His pieces remain highly prized by collectors and design enthusiasts worldwide.

On 1stDibs, explore a selection of vintage Shiro Kuramata seating, storage pieces, decorative objects and more.

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Creator: Shiro Kuramata
Shiro Kuramata Nara Square Terrazzo Table for Memphis Srl
By Shiro Kuramata
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Nara square table, (1983). Shiro Kuramata (Japan) / Memphis Milano. Square end or coffee table in metal and colored-glass-infused "Star Piece" terrazzo. Dimensions: W 23.75" x D ...
Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Shiro Kuramata Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Terrazzo

GLASS TABLE 1976, by Shiro Kuramata for Glas Italia
By Glas Italia, Shiro Kuramata
Located in Macherio, IT
Shown here is the glass table 1976. The low table characterised by the very refined minimal aspect with feet in mm. 24 thick transparent glass, thermo-welded to the top in mm. 12 thi...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Shiro Kuramata Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Glass

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Large Square Modernist Black and White Checkerboard Low Cocktail Table
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Shiro Kuramata Ko Ko Service Table in Black Stained Ash for Cappellini
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Francois Monnet Smoked Glass and Steel Squared French Coffee Table, 1970s
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Flower Glass Coffee Table by Glas Italia, Italy, 1990s
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Shiro Kuramata Steelpipe Drink Trolley in Metal for Cappellini
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Originally designed in 1968, the steel pipe drink trolley, by Shiro Kuramata, is still strikingly contemporary, a reflection of the research in which form and function are immediatel...
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Fiam Italia Quadra QU/90N Coffee Table with Black Glass Base by Matteo Nunziati
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Fiam Italia Magique MQ/32 Glass Side Table by Studio Klass
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Romeo Rega Brass, Chrome and Smoked Glass Square Italian Coffee Table, 1970s
By Romeo Rega
Located in Roma, IT
Elegant brass, chrome and smoked glass square coffee table. Romeo Rega designed this elegant coffee table during the 1970s in Italy. The unique combination of straight and pure lines with superb materials, makes this item a go-to for Italian midcentury lovers. This piece smoked glass top will add seductive elegance to a midcentury living room or a studio. Measures (cms): width - 70 depth - 70 height - 40 Romeo Rega is born in Rome on 10 October 1925, third of six children, born and raised in the Trastevere district, in the heart of Rome. In 1943 , at the age of 18, he joins the army as a driver, a position that he holds for the next two years. In 1945, the year of Liberation, he comes into contact with whom he himself calles “the Master”, an excellent blacksmith and forger, from whom he learnes the art of iron. This way he starts his path after his father Piero, also a craftsman. Nine years later he gets married and opens a small shop in Via della Pelliccia, in the Trastevere district. Here he starts to work wrought iron, discovering himself capable of inventing, designing and realizing gates, railings and iron furniture. He is 27 years old when, in 1957, he enrolls in the Albo provinciale delle imprese artigiane (Provincial Register of Craft Enterprises) and opens his first workshop in Vicolo della Frusta 6, where he collaborates with talented masters of wrought iron and forging. At this point arrives the first important order: the design and manufacturing for Cinecittà of the chariots for the American colossal film Ben-Hur, which will be published in 1959. He stays in Vicolo della Frusta until the end of the 1960s, a period in which he dedicated himself to his favorite activity: the design of his own pieces and the relations with people. Among his clients there are personalities from the world of cinema and entertainment, such as Marcello Mastroianni, Renato Rascel and his wife Giuditta Saltarini, Massimo Ranieri. In 1970 he met the filmmaker Massimo Saraceni who encouraged him to broaden his entrepreneurial horizons. The 1970s represent a real revolution for the Italian culture, here start the “golden years” of design. In this roaring context, Romeo manages to apply with creativity the traditional methods usually used to process forging and wrought iron to new industrial materials such as brass, steel and perspex. This is how the famous “Romeo Rega” brand is born, and the serial production of his furniture starts in Vicolo Pian due Torri, in the Magliana district of Rome. The “four-rod” tables, the “Z-shaped” consoles...
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Italian Mid-Century 1970s Occasional Square Laquered Table
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Blue Daisy Flower Glass Table by Glas Italia, Italy, 1990s
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Previously Available Items
Ko-Ko Table by Shiro Kuramata for Capellini
By Shiro Kuramata
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
Ko-Ko table by Shiro Kuramata for Capellini.
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Ko-Ko Table by Shiro Kuramata for Capellini
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H 24.41 in W 17.72 in D 19.69 in
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By Memphis Group, Shiro Kuramata
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1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Shiro Kuramata Coffee and Cocktail Tables

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Concrete

Nara Square Table by Shiro Kuramata
By Shiro Kuramata
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Nara aquare table (1983). Shiro Kuramata (Japan) / Memphis Milano. Square end or coffee table in metal and colored-glass-infused "Star Piece" terrazzo. Dimensions: W 23.75...
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Shiro Kuramata coffee and cocktail tables for sale on 1stDibs.

Shiro Kuramata coffee and cocktail tables are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of terrazzo and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Shiro Kuramata coffee and cocktail tables, although gray editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original coffee and cocktail tables by Shiro Kuramata were created in the modern style in italy during the 21st century and contemporary. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider coffee and cocktail tables by Mason Editions, Glas Italia, and Edizione Limitata. Prices for Shiro Kuramata coffee and cocktail tables can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $2,287 and can go as high as $5,700, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $3,994.

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