Item Description
This is an exceptional opportunity to acquire a rare and highly collectible piece of French design history: the foldable dining table by Max Sauze, executed in chromed steel with a floating smoked glass top. Designed circa 1970 in France, this table represents the pinnacle of Sauze’s minimalist philosophy—a celebration of geometric purity, structural ingenuity, and the poetic interplay of light and material . Max Sauze (b. 1933) is a French industrial designer and sculptor whose work occupies a singular place in the canon of late 20th-century design. Trained at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Algiers and the École Camondo in Paris, Sauze is best known for his innovative “light sculptures”—lamps crafted from bent aluminum strips that resemble organic cellular structures . His work is deeply influenced by the theories of Nikolaus Pevsner, and his most famous pieces bear the names of constellations—a testament to their ethereal, otherworldly quality . This dining table, however, showcases a different but equally compelling facet of Sauze’s genius: his mastery of furniture design. The table exemplifies his commitment to “prioritizing what is essential and minimizing the superfluous”—a design ethos that has made his work increasingly sought after by discerning collectors worldwide. The table’s design is a study in refined simplicity. The smoked glass top appears to float weightlessly above a meticulously engineered chromed steel base—a visual effect that speaks to Sauze’s sculptural sensibility. The smoked glass, with its subtle grey hue, introduces warmth and depth, tempering the cool precision of the chrome while creating a surface that elegantly catches and diffuses light . The true ingenuity of this piece lies in its foldable base—a mechanism that speaks to the functional intelligence embedded in Sauze’s minimalist aesthetic. When folded, the table transforms into a compact form, offering flexibility for spaces that demand versatility without compromising on design integrity .
