Ado Chale (° 1928)

Born in Brussels in 1928, Ado Chale (christened Adolphe Pelsener) originally trained in ironwork before discovering mineralogy on a trip to Germany in the late 1950s. In 1962 he opened a gallery in Brussels with his wife, a gemologist. At first he focused on jewellery but during this period he also created his first inlaid tabletops using fragments of pyrite collected on the northern coast of France. In the late 1960s he travelled the world in search of semi-precious stones and began working with epoxy resin – a new material at the time. It was during this period that he created his first cast bronze and aluminium ‘goutte d’eau’ tables, which were originally inspired by pre-Colombian culture. These iconic tables are typical of his work - each is unique due to the casting process - and the organic form of each brings the brutalist beauty of the metal to the fore.

Art and design feed into each other in all his work and the striking nature of his creations soon attracted clients such as the Belgian Royal family and numerous prestigious interior designers and art collectors. His work has been exhibited widely, gaining particular recognition in France and Japan, and today he is a household name in the design world. The inspiration he draws from the natural world and the love he has of noble materials gives his work a timeless quality and universal appeal.