20th Century Turquoise mosaic and lacquer table by Ado Châle
About the Item
- Creator:Ado Chale (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 13.78 in (35 cm)Width: 66.93 in (170 cm)Depth: 15.75 in (40 cm)
- Style:Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:1980-1989
- Date of Manufacture:1980
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Ramillies, BE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU9264236556402
Ado Chale
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Ramillies, Belgium
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- 2nd Centhury Mosaic depicting two animals (a dog and a hen) mounted as tableLocated in Ramillies, BEMosaic depicting two animals (a dog and a hen) mounted as table. Near East (Apamea?), 2nd century AD, Roman Period Marble moulding added in 2015 Provenance : Galerie Rive Gauche, B...Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier African Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMarble
- 18th Century Italian Rectangular mirrorLocated in Ramillies, BEBeautiful Venicien mirror. Gilded wood frame carved with acanthus leaves, shells and foliage, framing "eglomisé" glass with Chinese motifs. The mirror is dark grey and has been repla...Category
Antique Mid-18th Century Italian Wall Mirrors
MaterialsGlass, Mirror, Giltwood
- 17th Century sculpture of a Roman EmperorLocated in Ramillies, BEStanding Roman emperor Germany, 17th century Bronze and marble baseCategory
Antique 17th Century German Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsMarble, Bronze
- 17th Century Portrait of the Duke du MaineLocated in Ramillies, BEPortrait of the Duc du Maine France, XVIIth Century Aquarelle on parchment paper (vellum)Category
Antique 17th Century Paintings
MaterialsParchment Paper
- 16th Century Bust of Roman Emperor Julius CaesarLocated in Ramillies, BE16th Century Bust of Roman Emperor Julius Caesar in bronze with brown patina.Category
Antique 16th Century Italian Busts
MaterialsBronze
- Painting Adam and Eve in paradise on earth by J. TilleuxLocated in Ramillies, BEBig and highly decorative painting "Adam et Eve au Paradis terrestre" by Belgian painter Joseph (Jos) Martin Tilleux (1896-1978). Oil on Canvas.Category
Vintage 1930s Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Paint
- Black Resin and Agate Coffee Table by Ado ChaleBy Ado ChaleLocated in London, GBBlack 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
Vintage 1960s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsResin
- 1980s Pastilles Illuminating Coffee table by Ado ChaleBy Ado ChaleLocated in Paris, FRAdo 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
Vintage 1980s Belgian Futurist Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsAgate
- Ado Chale Rare Fossilized Wood Top Table 1960sBy Ado ChaleLocated in New York, NYExtraordinary coffee table incorporating a polished fossilized wood top with jewel tones on a black metal base by Ado Chale, Belgium 1960's. There are...Category
Vintage 1960s Belgian Organic Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Ado Chale Circular Coffee Table Black Resin and Petrified WoodBy Ado ChaleLocated in Brussels, BEAdo Chale circular coffee table black resin and Arizona petrified wood, circa 1980, signed by the artist. Very good condition.Category
Vintage 1980s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsStone
- Round Ado Chale Coffee Table, Oeil de Tigre, BelgiumBy Ado ChaleLocated in Brussels, BERound Ado Chale Coffee Table, Oeil de Tigre, BelgiumCategory
Vintage 1970s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Ado Chale Rare Coffee Table in Petrified Wood and Steel, Belgium, 1968By Ado ChaleLocated in New York, NYAdo 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
Vintage 1960s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal