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Ado Chale Coffee and Cocktail Tables

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.

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Creator: Ado Chale
Ado Chale Coffee table 'Relief of Polished Agates'
Ado Chale Coffee table 'Relief of Polished Agates'

Ado Chale Coffee table 'Relief of Polished Agates'

By Ado Chale

Located in New York, NY

Ado Chale (1928-2025) Coffee table - 'Relief of Polished Agates' model Cast bronze and lacquered steel Engraved 'Chale' on the edge of the tabletop Model created circa 1980 H 32 × W ...

Category

1980s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ado Chale Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Bronze

Ado Chale "Goutte d'Eau" Bronze Coffee Table Signed, Belgium, 1970s, Certificate
Ado Chale "Goutte d'Eau" Bronze Coffee Table Signed, Belgium, 1970s, Certificate

Ado Chale "Goutte d'Eau" Bronze Coffee Table Signed, Belgium, 1970s, Certificate

By Ado Chale

Located in New York, NY

Early and rare “Goutte d’Eau” oval coffee table by Belgian artisan and designer Ado Chale, created in the late 1970s. This sculptural piece features a finely cast bronze tabletop res...

Category

1970s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ado Chale Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Bronze, Steel

Rare Ado Chale Round Coffee Table with Mosaic Top in Malachite
Rare Ado Chale Round Coffee Table with Mosaic Top in Malachite

Rare Ado Chale Round Coffee Table with Mosaic Top in Malachite

By Ado Chale

Located in Waalwijk, NL

Ado Chale coffee table, malachite, resin, black lacquered steel, Belgium, 1980 This monumental table by Ado Chale is a powerful testament to the artist’s ability to transform rare a...

Category

1980s Belgian Post-Modern Vintage Ado Chale Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Malachite, Steel

Coffee Table by Ado Chale, Resin and Marcassite, Belgium, 1960s
Coffee Table by Ado Chale, Resin and Marcassite, Belgium, 1960s

Coffee Table by Ado Chale, Resin and Marcassite, Belgium, 1960s

By Ado Chale

Located in Brussels, BE

Coffee Table by Ado Chale, Resin and Marcassite, Belgium, 1960s

Category

1960s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ado Chale Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Stone

Ado Chale, Black Resin, Agate, Coffee Table, Belgium, 1990s
Ado Chale, Black Resin, Agate, Coffee Table, Belgium, 1990s

Ado Chale, Black Resin, Agate, Coffee Table, Belgium, 1990s

By Ado Chale

Located in Stamford, CT

Ado Chale, Belgian Mid-Century Modern, Black Resin, Agate, Coffee Table, Belgium, 1990s A rare coffee table designed and produced by Ado Chale in Belgium in the later half of the 20...

Category

20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Ado Chale Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Agate

Ado Chale Low Coffee Table with Aluminum Top and Steel Legs, Belgium
Ado Chale Low Coffee Table with Aluminum Top and Steel Legs, Belgium

Ado Chale Low Coffee Table with Aluminum Top and Steel Legs, Belgium

By Ado Chale

Located in Astoria, NY

Ado Chale (Belgian, b. 1928) Low Coffee Table, cast aluminum circular top above black patinated steel legs, signed to the side. 12.5" H x 38" Diameter. Provenance: From a SoHo, New...

Category

20th Century Belgian Ado Chale Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Aluminum, Steel

Coffee Table with Fossil Wood Inlay, Resin Top, Patinated Steel Base France 1970
Coffee Table with Fossil Wood Inlay, Resin Top, Patinated Steel Base France 1970

Coffee Table with Fossil Wood Inlay, Resin Top, Patinated Steel Base France 1970

By Ado Chale

Located in Milano, IT

Ado Chale (France, circa 1970) Coffee Table with Fossil Wood Resin top, fossil wood inlay, patinated steel base, and ruby details 99.5 × 35.5 cm (H) A remarkable coffee table by Ado ...

Category

1970s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ado Chale Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Steel

1980s Pastilles Illuminating Coffee table by Ado Chale
1980s Pastilles Illuminating Coffee table by Ado Chale

1980s Pastilles Illuminating Coffee table by Ado Chale

By Ado Chale

Located in Paris, FR

Ado 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

1980s Belgian Futurist Vintage Ado Chale Coffee and Cocktail Tables

Materials

Agate

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Backlit cocktail table by Ado Chale Backlit cocktail table by Ado Chale. Backlit table in resin decorated with half-moon mosaic of carnelian agate. Black...

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Mid-Century Modern Pepper Coffee Table by Ado Chale, Belgium, 1970s

Mid-Century Modern Pepper Coffee Table by Ado Chale, Belgium, 1970s

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Located in Brussels, BE

Mid-Century Modern Pepper Coffee Table by Ado Chale, Belgium, 1970s.

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Mid-Century Modern Pepper Coffee Table by Ado Chale, Belgium, 1970s
Mid-Century Modern Pepper Coffee Table by Ado Chale, Belgium, 1970s

Mid-Century Modern Pepper Coffee Table by Ado Chale, Belgium, 1970s

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Located in Brussels, BE

Mid-Century Modern Pepper Coffee Table by Ado Chale , Belgium, 1970s Signed.

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Ado Châle Table “Goutte D’eau” Bronze Belgium 1980 Signed
Ado Châle Table “Goutte D’eau” Bronze Belgium 1980 Signed

Ado Châle Table “Goutte D’eau” Bronze Belgium 1980 Signed

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Located in Uccle, BE

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Located in Uccle, BE

Large square “Goutte d’eau” coffee table with rounded corners. The top rests on four tripod legs in black painted steel. The model is named by the artist “Goutte d’eau” because it ...

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Set of Three Fossilized Arizona Sequoia Coffee Tables by Ado Chale
Set of Three Fossilized Arizona Sequoia Coffee Tables by Ado Chale

Set of Three Fossilized Arizona Sequoia Coffee Tables by Ado Chale

By Ado Chale

Located in Uccle, BE

Set of three tables in fossilized wood. The wood chosen here by the artist is Sequoia from Arizona. Each slice of Sequoia rests on a black painted steel tripod foot of slightly diff...

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Mid-20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Ado Chale Coffee and Cocktail Tables

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Wood

Ado Chale coffee and cocktail tables for sale on 1stDibs.

Ado Chale coffee and cocktail tables are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of metal and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Ado Chale coffee and cocktail tables, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original coffee and cocktail tables by Ado Chale were created in the mid-century modern style in europe during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider coffee and cocktail tables by Jean Claude Dresse, Lova Creations, and Etienne Allemeersch. Prices for Ado Chale coffee and cocktail tables can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $12,931 and can go as high as $105,000, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $37,861.