Pair of Brass Rolling Side Tables with Removable Glass Trays, Maison Jansen, France, circa 1940

This rare pair of multi-purpose side tables by Maison Jansen exemplifies the ingenuity that distinguished the great Parisian houses of the mid-twentieth century, combining the functionality of a rolling trolley with the refinement of a permanent side table. Each piece is constructed entirely in gilded brass, with a slender rectilinear frame supported on four tapering legs terminating in small brass castors, the whole possessing the elegant lightness characteristic of Jansen’s production in the 1930s and 1940s.

Each table features two tiers: a fixed lower shelf and a detachable upper tray, each bounded by a delicate twisted-wire brass gallery that prevents objects from sliding while adding a decorative texture to the otherwise austere geometry of the frame. The surfaces of both levels consist of clear glass panels set within the brass surrounds, their transparency maintaining a visual openness. The upper tray, being fully removable, can be lifted away and carried independently — a practical refinement that speaks to the exacting attention to convenience that defined luxury design of the period.

The quality of the brass is consistent throughout: the warm, gilded tonality, the precision of the twisted gallery work, and the crisp casting of the castors all confirm an attribution to the workshops of Maison Jansen, the legendary Paris firm whose clientele included royalty, heads of state, and the foremost collectors of the age. Small in scale but large in presence, these tables measure 55.5 by 40 centimetres with a height of 60.5 centimetres.

Offered as a pair, these tables are equally effective as matching side tables flanking a sofa, as tea tables in a sitting room, or as rolling service tables in an entrance hall or library. Their versatility, combined with the authority of their Jansen provenance, makes them among the most practical and desirable of the house’s small-format furnishings.