Coffee table - Gio Ponti & Emilio Lancia, Italy, 1940s

This coffee table has all the muted elegance of the late Italian Novecento: a deep black glass top, framed by a fine wooden moulding that plays on several levels, and four tapered saber legs that end in discreet brass caps. This design bears the hallmark of Gio Ponti and Emilio Lancia, who together signed several interiors and furniture pieces in Milan in this refined spirit, straddling revisited classicism and emerging modernity. The solid, dense wood has not moved a millimetre since its manufacture, and the glass top has traversed the decades without a single visible scratch. With its low proportions and a width of 77 cm, it naturally finds its place in front of a sofa to initiate a living room with character. An Italian piece from the 1940s that has not aged a bit, and which has its rightful place in a contemporary interior in search of history.