Jean Claude Dresse, rectangular coffee table, mosaic brass an stainless steel, Belgium, 1980.
This unique coffee table by Dresse was owned by a Belgian private collection from Brussels. This example is custom-made and of a rectangular size (measuring 130.5cm x 100cm x 32cm) which is exceptionally for Dresse's pieces. Besides its size, what is is important for the quality of this table is that the piece is made by hand with an mosaic metal, brass and stainless steel . All Dresse's pieces are handmade: ''The only tools used are shears for cutting the mosaics and a polisher to finish the works'. The thick luxurious top is finished with a high gloss black edge that is accompanied by an architectural base in brushed metal. It is important to know that Dresse was the first to produce these kind of metal or stone mosaic tables in Belgium. Nowadays, these mosaic patterns are exemplary for design from Belgium in the 1970s and 1980s, which states the importance of the design of Dresse and this unique table.
Signed Dresse.
Jean Claude Dresse (1946) is a Belgian artist and designer. He graduated from the art academy in Charleroi. His interest in the visual artist is clearly visible in his furniture designs as he uses artistic techniques such as mosaic and etchings. He makes use of precious metals such as brass and copper. Together with his father he was a prominent figure in the furniture business in the 1980s and he belongs to the artistic Walloon school that focused on glamorous esthetics. When his father died and the market was more difficult, he could not continue to make the furniture on his own so he became a visual artist.