This exceptional dining table, made around 1940 by the famous Atelier Borsani in Varedo, represents one of the finest examples of designer furniture intended for the grand villas of Lake Como. The piece is not just a piece of furniture, but a convivial architectural work that blends the rigor of Lombard design with the power of mythological sculpture.
The base is the central narrative element: six finely carved wooden Nereids support the top with a fluid and dynamic movement. The iconographic choice is a cultured reference to Pliny the Elder, an illustrious figure from Como who celebrated the bond between man and nature in his Naturalis Historia.
In true Borsani style, the classical figure is reinterpreted with a “modernist” touch: the nymphs seem to cut through the water, their hair flowing backwards and transforming into the supporting lines of the structure. It is a tribute to the deep history of the Larian territory, where Roman myth is reflected daily in the waters of the lake.
The work expresses all the mastery of the Varedo Atelier in combining noble and contrasting materials: the wood, treated with warm and silky finishes, reveals the Borsani family's ability to transform solid material into figures vibrant with life and movement, while the edge of the table is embellished with a band of aquamarine diamond-pointed glass. This detail, typical of Borsani's collaborations with the finest glassmakers of the time, is designed to capture natural light and reflect the iridescent reflections of the lake.
The large glass top allows the sculptural complexity of the base to be admired from every angle, while ensuring an ethereal elegance that does not weigh down the solemn space of the living room.