Occasional Table

Walter von Nessen was among the group of architects and designers born and trained in Europe, including Paul Frankl and Wolfgang Hoffmann, who altered the shape of American interior design during the first decades of the 20th century. For his occasional table—whose diminutive stature and portability were inspired by the informal buffet dinners and cocktail parties that gained in popularity during the Prohibition era—Von Nessen shrewdly married modernity with tradition. The aluminum and Bakelite—which were just being accepted as suitable for interior decoration—suggest the latest in machine technology, but they also evoke luxurious materials such as silver and ebonized wood. At the same time, the graceful sweep of aluminum that curves upward toward the tabletop evokes neoclassical visual details.