Description
Artist: Emiel Veranneman (Belgium, 1924–2005)
Year: 1956
Object: Coffee table
Manufacturer: Braun-Fortuna, Ghent, Belgium
Materials: Painted wooden structure and glass
Production: Rare model; only a few examples are known
Provenance: Private collection, Belgium; acquired directly from an acquaintance of Emiel Veranneman
Documentation: Accompanied by the original technical drawing and an original handmade postcard by Emiel Veranneman
DESCRIPTION
This rare coffee table was designed by Emiel Veranneman in 1955 and manufactured by Braun-Fortuna in Ghent.
The design is characteristic of Veranneman’s earliest experiments with furniture. A remarkably light, almost skeletal structure supports the large glass top, reducing the table to an interplay of line, proportion, and transparency.
The gently articulated legs and horizontal framework reveal an approach in which construction itself becomes the principal visual element. The transparency of the glass further emphasizes this quality, allowing the structure to remain fully visible and giving a table of considerable dimensions an unusual sense of lightness.
Only a few examples of this model are presently known.
CONTEXT
The table belongs to the formative period of Veranneman’s career, when he was developing his ideas at the intersection of art, architecture and furniture design.
Its execution by Braun-Fortuna in Ghent places the work within the progressive furniture culture that emerged in Ghent during the post-war period. During the 1950s, designers, architects and manufacturers in the city increasingly embraced modern furniture conceived around clarity of construction, functionality and economical use of materials.
Veranneman brought a distinctly artistic sensibility to this environment. Rather than concealing construction beneath decorative elements, he allowed structure, rhythm and proportion to determine the appearance of the object.
Seen in this context, the present table is an important early expression of ideas that would become fundamental to Veranneman’s later work: the reduction of furniture to essential architectural elements and the gradual dissolution of the boundary between functional object and autonomous sculpture.
PROVENANCE AND DOCUMENTATION
The provenance and surviving documentation give this example particular significance.
The table comes directly from an acquaintance of Emiel Veranneman and has remained in private hands. It is accompanied by its original technical drawing, providing direct documentation of Veranneman’s design for the table.
The ensemble is further accompanied by an original handmade postcard by Veranneman, establishing a personal connection between the designer and the original owner.
Together, the table, drawing and personal documentation form an unusually complete surviving ensemble from Veranneman’s early design practice.
POSITIONING
This work is particularly relevant for:
Private collections of post-war Belgian and European design
Institutional collections documenting Belgian modernism
Collections exploring the relationship between art, architecture and furniture
Research into the progressive furniture culture that developed in Ghent during the 1950s
Accompanied by the original technical drawing and an original hand-made postcard by Emiel Veranneman.
For further information, documentation or institutional enquiries, please contact the gallery.
