The present Berceau low table is a particularly early example, having been acquired from Diego Giacometti in 1969, just three years after the death of his brother Alberto. Following decades working as brother’s assistant, Diego was just beginning to turn his full attention to his own designs at the time this table was cast. In keeping with Diego’s earlier furniture, the table is unsigned. A handwritten note signed and dated by Diego Giacometti attests that the artist sold the present example, along with a Figure floor lamp and an Étoile table lamp, to Irvin Shapiro in 1969.

Label from Diego Giacometti to Irvin Shapiro, circa 1969. Image courtesy: the Estate of Diana Shapiro.
- Provenance
  Diana and Irvin Shapiro, New York, acquired directly from the artist, 1969
- Literature
  Michel Butor and Jean Vincent, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 1985, p. 142-43
  Daniel Marchesseau, Diego Giacometti, Catalogue de l'oeuvre, Paris, 1986, pp. 68-69
  Daniel Marchesseau, Diego Giacometti: Sculpteur de Meubles, Paris, 2018, pp. 30, 102
- Artist Biography
  Diego Giacometti
  Swiss • 1902 - 1985
  In 1935 Diego Giacometti took a holiday in Stampa, the Swiss town in which he grew up. The trip marked one of the first periods in which he was separated from his brother Alberto Giacometti, and perhaps in connection with having removed himself from the shadow of his brother's career, he began his first animal sculptures. It was shortly after this trip that the younger Giacometti also started making furniture, after patrons admired the stands he was crafting for his brother's sculptures. Diego modeled his maquettes in plaster (as opposed to clay or wax, which was the more common choice for sculptors) and cast his furniture in bronze, a departure from most metal furniture at the time, which was cast in iron. Illustrious clients included the Maeght and Noailles families as well as the decorator Jean-Michel Frank, who commissioned Alberto (assisted by Diego) to create plaster lighting and fireplace accessories.
  View More Works