Between traditional craftsmanship and contemporary creation

The SFAX T21 table, accompanied here by its benches, is one of Pierre Chapo’s most emblematic designs. It illustrates the cabinetmaker’s total devotion to solid elm and his mastery of proportions.

“No miscalculation is allowed, and the proportions of the whole must be perfect, because it’s a question of combining the perfection of the degree of inclination of the legs with that of the top…” This is how the SFAX T21table is described on the Chapo website. The design of this piece of furniture, one of Pierre Chapo’s signature pieces, is meticulous. This example, from an early edition, will also be accompanied by its quarter-circle benches, which follow the contour of the tabletop perfectly. Created in 1973 and edited by Pierre Chapo himself, this model has been produced in several sizes : the T21D with a diameter of 140 cm, the smallest, T21A, with a diameter of 96 cm, and the largest, T21E, with a diameter of 160 cm. Pierre Chapo began working with wood during his formative years, when he joined the workshop of a naval carpenter before entering the Beaux-Arts school in Paris in 1947. Travels – to Scandinavia, South America and the United States – further enriched his passion for craftsmanship and contemporary creation. In 1958, he opened his own gallery in Paris, where he exhibited other designers, before developing his furniture manufacturing workshop in Clamart. It was finally in Gordes that he set up his business, now run by his son Fidel.