Eileen Gray. E 1027 Adjustable Tables for ClassiCon

EILEEN GRAY (Enniscorthy, Ireland, 1878–Paris, 1976) for CLASSICON.
Pair of height-adjustable side tables, model E 1027. Designed in 1927.
Chrome-plated steel tube frame. Clear glass top.
Manufactured by ClassiCon.
With identification numbers.
Archive photo. The tables are unused and in their original packaging.
Measurements: 55–85 cm (height); 52 cm (diameter).

Its distinctive and ingeniously proportioned shape has made this height-adjustable table one of the most popular design icons of the 20th century. It is named after the summer house E 1027 “Maison en bord de mer” that Eileen Gray built for herself and her collaborator, Jean Badovici. The secret code name also comes from her: E stands for Eileen, 10 for Jean (J is the tenth letter of the alphabet), 2 for B (Badovici), and 7 for G (Bray).

Eileen Gray studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London from 1898 to 1902, while also learning the art of lacquering. In 1907, she settled in Paris, where she learned Japanese lacquering techniques from the artisan Seizo Sougarawa. Around 1910, she began designing lacquered screens and panels with figurative motifs, and in 1913 she exhibited her work at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, where her designs caught the attention of the fashion designer and art collector Jacques Doucet. He became her principal client, and she completed various commissions for him, such as the four-panel screen *Le Destin* (1914) and the *Lotus* table (1915), before her work was interrupted by World War I. In 1915, Eileen Gray moved to London with the craftsman Sougarawa. In 1917, she returned to Paris. In 1922, after completing several commissions for prominent clients in the Art Deco style, Eileen Gray opened her own shop, the Galerie Jean Désert. That same year, she exhibited her work in Amsterdam alongside the De Stijl architect Jan Wils. The Dutch avant-garde welcomed with admiration her design for a “bedroom dressing table for Monte Carlo,” originally exhibited at the 1923 Salon des Artistes Décorateurs. From that point on, her work reflected a clear geometric influence from De Stijl. In 1924, Eileen Gray and the architect Jean Badovici took a trip to see modern architecture, and he convinced her to pursue architecture. This marked the most brilliant phase of the Irish designer’s career. In 1926, Gray designed one of the most important homes of the Modern Movement, the E 1027, for which she created some of her timeless designs, such as the Transat Chair (1925) and her famous E 1027 table (1927) made of tubular steel and glass. In 1929, she created one of her most recognizable designs, the Bibendum armchair, whose silhouette was based on the Michelin Man. His final project was an exhibition held at the Pavillon des Temps Nouveaux, designed by Le Corbusier in 1937, and the presentation of a proposal for the Centre de Vacances, which was never realized.