Claude Lalanne

Commissioned directly from Claude Lalanne in 2017 by the present owner

François-Marie Barnier, Jean-Gabriel Mitterand, Claude Lalanne, Montreuil, 2018, pp. 46-47, illustrated in colour

Pierre Passebon, Jacques Grange, Oeuvres récentes, Paris, 2021, pp. 292-293, illustrated in colour

Claude Lalanne’s unique Table aux Serpents is a lyrical expression of the artist’s signature blend of naturalism, surrealism, and functional design. Composed of gold serpents coiled together to form the table’s base, their bodies are fused seamlessly into leafy tendrils that support the tabletop. It is a work that captures Lalanne’s fascination with the metamorphic potential of nature, where flora and fauna intertwine and everyday furniture becomes sculpture.

Though serpents appear only rarely in Lalanne’s oeuvre, their presence here is both poetic and potent. Unlike her more familiar cabbages, ginkgo leaves, or vines, the snakes introduce an element of ancient symbolism. Across cultures, serpents have long represented transformation, rebirth, and the cyclical nature of life—motifs that resonate deeply within Lalanne’s practice. The design also nods subtly to the Surrealist tradition: the table’s lifelike snakes appear inanimate, yet are imbued with an uncanny stillness, as though they might stir at any moment.

Ultimately, Table aux Serpents exemplifies Lalanne’s quiet mastery of metaphor. Cast in bronze and copper and frozen in motion, the serpents remind us that even in domestic space, mystery and meaning can be woven into the everyday.