Italian Art Déco Dining Table in Parchment, Walnut and Black Glass

This table is conceived as a small architecture: four uprights with an oval profile, arranged in pairs on the two short sides, rise from a continuous moulded base to support a parchment band that runs around the top. Above, a slab of black mirrored glass closes the composition. Two extending leaves slide out at either side and enlarge the usable surface as required, repeating the cladding of the central body. The parchment is divided on the front into three panels, a purely graphic partition that paces the band without breaking it. The composition is symmetrical and disciplined, in the rigorous spirit of Italian rationalism of the 1930s.

The structure is in walnut, with a uniform finish across all the timber parts: uprights, moulded base and frames around the parchment band share the same warm tone, brought out by a French polish that lets the grain read through. The perimeter band is clad in stretched parchment, with the grain and ivory tones characteristic of the material. The top is in back-painted black glass, set flush within the wooden frame.

Parchment, black glass and a columned architecture belong to the vocabulary of Italian Art Déco between the late 1920s and the early 1930s, practised by workshops and architects across the north. The use of parchment as cladding for fronts and rails marks the exhibition seasons of the Monza Biennali and later of the Milan Triennale, where it served to dignify representational furniture. Black back-painted glass, of Central European derivation, entered the Italian domestic vocabulary in parallel. The table bears no marks or labels: the dating relies on formal and technical choices, consistent with Italian high cabinetmaking of the period.

The piece has undergone a conservative restoration, carried out without erasing the natural traces of age. The parchment retains its original tones and patinas, unevenly distributed along the band; the timber has been cleaned and re-polished, with wear consistent with use over time; the black glass top shows some minor surface marks visible in raking light. The extending mechanism is in working order.

Dimensions: Height 80 cm (31.5 in) x Width 198 cm (78.0 in, closed) x Depth 96 cm (37.8 in)