Side table - Steel - Small side table / end table, vintage French - Fox hunting decor

Side table – Atelier Tury – Stag hunting decor – Circa 1950/1960

Description:
Small vintage French side table / occasional table dating from the mid-20th century (circa 1950–1960), with a design typically mid-century modernist. The upper surface features a stunning graphic black-and-white checkerboard composition consisting of four tiles. It is made up of two plain black tiles and two glazed white earthenware tiles hand-painted with designs.

The artist and the workshop’s craftsmanship:
Each illustrated tile bears the signature in the bottom-right corner of the vertical monogram official and inseparable from Atelier Tury. Iconic of French decorative arts in the 1950s (Île-de-France / Paris region), Atelier Tury controlled its entire production completely autonomously. The workshop produced its own tiles from terracotta, cast its color glazes, hand-painted the scenes, and stamped its mark directly into the clay before the final kiln firing.

The motifs and hunting scenes:
The two illustrated tiles depict the world of the royal hunt with dynamic movement and remarkable attention to detail. One can admire riders in traditional red livery (the famous hunting attire), hounds in full sprint, and horses in full motion. The colors remain very vivid, and the glazing provides a superb relief.

Structure and materials:
The clean, geometric legs are made of black square-section steel tubing. This is the flagship material used by French designers of the era’s modernist movement to break with rustic wrought iron. Weighing 3.8 kg, the structure is very sturdy and perfectly stable.

Technical specifications:
Origin: France
Era: 1950s / 1960s
Plateau dimensions: 31 x 31 cm (composed of 4 tiles of 15 x 15 cm)
Total height: 37.5 cm
Exact weight: 3.8 kg

The table is in a very good overall condition for an object of nearly 80 years. The black steel frame is sound, clean and perfectly stable. The hand-painted decorations on the earthenware tiles have wonderfully withstood the test of time, preserving their original brightness and vividness. Some small surface scratches on the tiles are visible, natural reflections of its history and vintage use, clearly visible in the photos and in no way detracting from the piece’s charm (only visible depending on light reflection).