Description
Pair of Sculptural Walnut and Terrazzo Side Tables, Attributed to John Keal for Brown Saltman.
California Modern, circa late 1950s–1960s
A striking pair of California Modern side tables attributed to John Keal for his celebrated work with Brown Saltman, distilling the era’s sculptural ambition into a form of remarkable lightness. Each base is carved from solid walnut into four slender, spire-like corner posts, tapered and hand-finished so that no two faces catch the light the same way, rising to cradle the terrazzo slab as if presenting it rather than merely supporting it. The apron beneath is notched with the same sculptural attention, allowing the stone top to rest and lift free without hardware of any kind, a detail as elegant in function as it is in form.
Viewed from any angle, the base reveals a different profile: the tapered legs narrow toward simple metal glides, joined by a low stretcher that reads almost as a drawn line beneath the mass of stone above. This interplay of a substantial terrazzo top balanced on an almost skeletal walnut frame is the hallmark of Keal’s most sought-after designs for Brown Saltman, and one of the more architecturally distinctive expressions of it.
The terrazzo tops depart from the more familiar square and hexagonal formats seen in Keal’s other work, cut instead to an asymmetric, trapezoidal silhouette that gives each table its own sculptural identity. One table’s aggregate leans toward warmer white stone, its mate carrying a denser scatter of gray, so the pair reads as related but never identical, more akin to a matched set of stones than a mass-produced pair.
**Dimensions**
Height: 21.5 in (54.6 cm)
Base: 16.5 in W x 32.5 in D (41.9 x 82.6 cm)
Top, narrowest point: 15 1/8 in (38.4 cm)
Top, widest point: 22 in (55.9 cm)
Top, length: 27 5/8 in (70.2 cm)
Top thickness: 1.5 in (3.8 cm)
**Condition**
Original terrazzo tops retain light surface hairline cracking, cosmetic in nature and not extending through the material. Natural variation in stone aggregate gives one top a slightly warmer, lighter cast than its mate. The walnut bases show minor age-appropriate wear, including a small old repair to one base’s top post and a shallow surface dent to one base, concealed beneath the overhang of the top when viewed from a standing position. Sold as a pair.
