Berthold Müller abstract black & white glass mosaic coffee table with brass legs, 1950s
Berthold Muller
Mid-century glass mosaic coffee table by Berthold Müller Germany, 1950s
A sculptural masterpiece of German mid-century design: this coffee table by Berthold Müller carries a hand-laid glass mosaic top in black, charcoal, grey and white. The abstract composition of elongated organic forms, set against fine radiating tesserae, reads like a modernist painting at coffee-table height.
The mosaic is framed by a warm, patinated brass edge. The table stands on four slender, tapered brass legs with ball feet. Their splayed, Italian-inspired silhouette gives the piece an elegant lightness that contrasts with the graphic weight of the top.
Mosaics from Müller own workshop are treated as small works of art rather than simple furniture, and each top is individually composed. Striking from every angle, this table works equally well in a minimalist, Brutalist or classic modernist interior.
Dimensions: H. 18.1 in. x W. 45.3 in. x D. 18.9 in. (H. 46 x W. 115 x D. 48 cm).
Condition: Very good vintage condition with a beautiful, honest patina to the brass.
About Berthold Müller-Oerlinghausen (1893–1979)
Berthold Müller-Oerlinghausen was born in Oerlinghausen near Bielefeld in 1893; he added "Oerlinghausen" to his name later. He began studying sculpture under Hans Perathoner at the Bielefeld College of Arts and Crafts in 1910, while still a schoolboy. In 1936 he founded a mosaic workshop in Berlin. It was destroyed in an air raid in 1944, and he rebuilt it in Kressbronn on Lake Constance in 1946.
After the war he was a driving force in the cultural revival of the Lake Constance region. He co-founded the "Upper Swabian Secession" in 1947 and had a retrospective at the Municipal Museum of Lindau in 1963 for his 70th birthday. Ulrich Gertz published a monograph on his work in 1974. He died in Kressbronn in 1979. His mosaic tables are sought after by collectors of 1950s and 1960s German design.
Colors may slightly vary due to photographic lighting sources or your monitor settings.
Wear consistent with age and use.
The table will be shipped insured overseas in a custom made wooden crate. Cost of insured transport to the US is Euro 875 crate included.
mosaic table, glass mosaic, Müller-Oerlinghausen, Berthold Muller, German mid-century, brass legs, abstract, black and white, sculptural coffee table, Kressbronn, Lake Constance, Mosaikwerkstatt