Adjustable table
adjustable table e 1027
Design Eileen Gray, 1927
Steel tubing, glass or metal top
Among the classics this is perhaps the classic. Its ingeniously proportioned, distinctive form has made this height-adjustable table into 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 for her collaborator, Jean Badovici. Likewise, the secret code-name comes from her: E is for Eileen, 10 for Jean (J is the 10th letter of the alphabet), 2 for B(adovici) and 7 for G(ray).
In the 1920's and 30's, Irish artist Eileen Gray was one of the pioneers who created what we now call modern design. The lone woman in this pioneering Valhalla, her name is pronounced in the same breath as Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer. Her tubular steel furniture was revolutionary in its day, and is now accepted as classic. In the second stage of her creative career, Eileen Gray switched to architecture and continued producing masterpieces. She was an artist of epoch-making significance. Her career culminated in 1972 with her appointment by the Royal Society of Art in London, as Royal Designer to Industry. And her legendary Adjustable Table E 1027 has been added to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1978.