Vintage Tripod Dining Table by Renato Zevi for Roche Bobois, 1970

Best known for his inimitable Ellipse rocking chair, Italian furniture designer Renato Zevi worked with gilded aluminum and brass, lacquered wood and mirrored glass to create sleek, sensual and glamorous pieces befitting the Hollywood Regency style.

Zevi designed extensively throughout the 1970s, drawing inspiration from the likes of Milo Baughman, one of the most adept American mid-century modern designers. Baughman’s relaxed and airy approach to design is reflected in many of Zevi’s pieces, such as sideboards, coffee and cocktail tables and dining room tables, which, like Baughman’s designs, feature sturdy chrome frames and polished lacquered wood veneers. 

Zevi’s most inventive designs included a lounge chair with an ottoman, a unique creation with oval, sculptural, polished chrome legs and a plush seat and backrest. Through his firm Zevi and C., he designed the Ellipse chair for the Selig furniture company. An American manufacturer and importer, Selig is known for being among the first to introduce European modern furniture to the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. Versions of the popular Ellipse chair have been produced with tufted vinyl upholstery and soft, supple Italian leather. 

Zevi also collaborated with Italian furniture designer Romeo Rega, creating elegant bookcases and vitrines with gilt brass frames and smoked glass or crystal glass shelves. Rega’s company was acclaimed during the 1970s for its mass-produced console tables, chairs and other pieces until it ceased production in the 1980s.

Zevi’s work continues to be popular with Hollywood Regency decorators, collectors and design enthusiasts.

On 1stDibs, discover a range of vintage Renato Zevi case pieces and storage cabinets, tables, seating and more.

In 1974, Roche Bobois opened its first showroom in the United States on Madison Avenue in New York City. The celebrated luxury French furniture brand is now in 50 countries with more than 200 stores.

The Roche Bobois story has origins in 1950, when entrepreneur Jacques Roche converted an old Paris theater into two contemporary furniture boutiques so that his sons could help usher stunning Bauhaus-inspired work out of the shops and into French homes nearby. At another showroom called Au Beau Bois, also in the French capital city, the Chouchan family was simultaneously selling home furnishings. The families met later, when Philippe and François Roche convened with Patrick and Jean-Claude Chouchan at a furniture exhibition in Copenhagen in 1960 and afterward produced a catalog announcing their partnership.

Minimal and modernist Scandinavian design had gained prominence in the furniture industry by 1960, rendering designers such as Kaare Klint and Poul Henningsen marquee names — and Roche Bobois's principals had taken notice. Following a national advertising campaign in Elle magazine a year later, the Scandinavian furniture that the newly minted Roche Bobois was importing to Paris became a huge success. Early promotional material from the firm likely included the sleek modular wall units crafted in rosewood by Danish furniture maker Poul Cadovius. It didn’t take long for Roche Bobois to shift toward producing its own contemporary furniture line.

When the popularity of cable television took hold in more major American cities during the 1970s, sofas and other seating became integral to contemporary living-room decor. Roche Bobois’s newly launched Les Contemporains series positioned its own sofas front and center, and it also offered plush lounge chairs designed by Mario Bellini. Bold works from the company during the decade included Marc Berthier’s Pop Art–colored tubular metal desks and chairs — the latter covered with braided fabric — as well as one of Roche Bobois’s most enduring and well-known pieces, the Mah Jong sectional sofa created by sculptor, painter and designer Hans Hopfer. Anchored by few central elements, this modular lounge sofa can be combined or stacked, giving the buyer total freedom over its appearance and the ability to maximize comfort.

Since its inception, Roche Bobois has worked with many internationally renowned architects and designers on its collections, among them Paola Navone and Vladimir Kagan. Even fashion designers such as Missoni and Emanuel Ungaro have made contributions to the company’s lineup.

In 2010, Roche Bobois marked its 50-year anniversary by debuting a partnership with French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier. A decade later, Roche Bobois teamed up with Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, who designed a collection of organically shaped sofas as well as vibrant, colorful accent pillows and rugs.

Roche Bobois’s offerings over the years have included everything from mid-century modern armchairs to Art Deco case pieces to sculptural outdoor cocktail tables framed in metal wire — shop these classics now on 1stDibs.