So, after Kelvin engraved the metal, pieces would be submerged in a giant vat of dirt and excavated on a designated date before being cleaned up, hand-painted, and further embellished. The duo made a range of furnishings, but their cocktail tables began a swift ascent to icon status—particularly the Chan typology, in which a carved top sat on a faceted metal base.
Over the years the tables evolved as the pair experimented. Early examples (the earliest bearing wooden legs) sported distinctly figurative motifs, plucked from China, Greece, Italy, and France, while later specimens turned more abstract as they tried out cast and welded forms. Every table was totally unique, inspiring the 1960 New York Times headline that read: “Coffee Tables Are Art Also.”
Despite famously long lead times, tastemakers from Frank Sinatra to Jackie Kennedy, who wanted one for her yacht, quickly placed orders. More recently, as a trickling supply of pieces fetch ever higher prices at auction (a table went for $94,500 at Sotheby’s in 2021), they’ve cropped up in contemporary interiors, as beloved for their high-touch craftsmanship as for their mysterious origins. “The extraordinary thing is the way they cannot be placed,” explains AD100 designer Billy Cotton. “They bridge time, style, and definition.”
This story appears in AD’s January issue. Never miss a story when you subscribe to AD.
