About the Item
Modern Karl Springer Monumental Coffee Table with heavy stainless steel leg supports and thick tempered glass top is of the sort that anchors any room – here is where we gather. Chic. Sexy. Timeless. Aptly named by Karl Springer as the Sculpture Leg Table, the wide stainless steel legs strongly ground the table. At the same time, the mirror like finish reflects its surroundings and exudes a feeling of lightness and air. This table’s versatility cannot be understated. It’s the sort of piece you move with you from home to home and easily integrate. Whether Modern, Eclectic, Minimalist or Mid Century Modern, this Karl Springer coffee table merges incredibly well. A wonderful acquisition for collectors or aficionados of all things beautiful. Photographed with and also currently available in our shop – Pair of Ivory Bouclé Karl Springer Style Modern Soufflé Poufs Ottomans Reference: 1980s Karl Springer LTD Red Binder Catalog, Sec. “Coffee, End Tables & Bar Carts”, “KARL SPRINGER LTD 8” DIAMETER, COFFEE TABLE WITH SCULPTURE LEG,” p. 1.
About the Designer
The Berlin-born, New York–based designer Karl Springer brought a chic, high-fashion sensibility to furnishings. During his heyday in the 1970s, Springer’s work was a favorite of the glamour set, who enjoyed the novelty of pieces finished in rich and striking materials that ranged from exotic hides and skins to lacquer and chromed metal. In a sense, Springer was a pre-postmodernist. Much as the dull, safe, corporate sameness of late 20th-century modernism prompted Ettore Sottsass, Michael Graves and others to explore new and provocative structures and materials in design and architecture, so, too, was Springer driven to enliven his creations with fresh and alluring energy and sleekness.
Springer came to New York in the late 1950s and found work arranging window displays at the department store Lord & Taylor. He had studied bookbinding in Germany, and, using his meticulous skills, he began crafting desk accessories wrapped in leather as a sideline. These pieces were sold in luxury stores like Bergdorf Goodman, and drew a sophisticated clientele that included the Duchess of Windsor. By 1965, he had established his own Manhattan atelier, and at his death he had showrooms as far afield as Los Angeles, Tokyo and Munich.
The chairs, tables, credenzas and other furniture forms Springer created are generally simple, but substantial, and often have robust, rounded lines. The appeal of his work lies in Springer’s insistence on exacting construction and, above all, his eye for unusual materials and finishes. He employed Lucite, brass, and gunmetal along with chromed and polished steel, and revived exquisite finishes rarely seen since the days of Art Deco masters such as Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann and Jean-Michel Frank: shagreen (a type of sharkskin), python, goatskin, bone, horn, and lacquered parchment, as well as fabrics that include batik prints. Made of such materials, Springer’s work is by its very nature flamboyant and eye-catching: a suite of pieces will astonish, and an artfully placed side table in exotic hide will add a surprising spark.
