PL pedestal table thumbnail 1
PL pedestal table thumbnail 2

PL pedestal table

Table
1983 (designed), 1994 (manufactured)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Martin Szekely was one of the younger designers who benefited from the support of VIA (Valorisation de l'innovation dans l'Ameublement), a body founded in 1979 by the French Ministère de l'Industrie to promote new design at home and abroad. The PL table is typical of French furniture of the period, which dissolved traditional forms (in this instance, the kind of small table known as a gueridon) into an interplay of geometrical planes. The manufacturer of the table was Neotu, a gallery founded in 1985, dedicated to issuing editions of furniture and design objects, with premises in Paris and New York. One of the first exhibitions at Neotu was a solo show of work by Martin Szekely.

Object details

Category
Object type
Titles
  • PL pedestal table (assigned by artist)
  • Gueridon Table (manufacturer's title)
Materials and techniques
Enamelled steel, cut and welded
Brief description
PL pedestal table, designed by Martin Szekely, 1983, manufactured by Neotu, Paris, 1994.
Physical description
Pedestal table with circular top, composed of cut steel sheet and steel tube. The tubular steel pedestal sits on a semicircular base and is joined by three small horizontal rods at the top to the edge of a vertical, blade-like, triangular-shaped leg that is welded to the underside of the table top on its short side and rests on its point. The base is raised on three small round feet. The table is enamelled grey. The minimalism of the design suggests lightness but because of its material the table is very heavy.
Dimensions
  • Height: 746mm
  • Width: 500mm
Measured on 15/9/2010 by LC.
Gallery label
(1994-2006)
'PL' PEDESTAL TABLE (Guéridon)
Designed by Martin Szekely (French, born 1956), 1983
Made by Neotu, Paris, 1993
Enamelled steel

Some of Martin Szekely's work has been described as having a "powerful engineering rhetoric" deriving from his use of geometric forms ad industrial materials.

W.3-1994
(01/12/2012)
‘PL’ pedestal table
1983
Martin Szekely (born 1956)

France
Made 1994 for Neotu, Paris
Cut and welded steel, painted
Feet: rubber

Museum no. W.3-1994

Industrial sheet steel can be used to create furniture that is visually striking and very strong, though heavy. For this table, evocative of an 18th-century guéridon or circular stand, the three sheet elements are cut to shape, then welded by hand around a section of steel tubing. The paint finish is sprayed and baked.
Object history
This table is a version of an 18th century French furniture table, the queridon. Since the 18th century this term has described a low, circular table with three legs or tripod base while in the 20th century it has come to be used for what is called, in English, an occational table. Sleek, hi-tech in feel, although slightly let down by the quality of the welding, its minimalism is very much of its period. The table is eminently functional and has continued in small series of batch production since its original design in 1985.
Production
Attribution note: small batch production since 1985
Summary
Martin Szekely was one of the younger designers who benefited from the support of VIA (Valorisation de l'innovation dans l'Ameublement), a body founded in 1979 by the French Ministère de l'Industrie to promote new design at home and abroad. The PL table is typical of French furniture of the period, which dissolved traditional forms (in this instance, the kind of small table known as a gueridon) into an interplay of geometrical planes. The manufacturer of the table was Neotu, a gallery founded in 1985, dedicated to issuing editions of furniture and design objects, with premises in Paris and New York. One of the first exhibitions at Neotu was a solo show of work by Martin Szekely.
Collection
Accession number
W.3-1994

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Record createdJanuary 17, 2006
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