Acid Etched Coffee Table: Bernhard Rohne

Somebody set acid loose on the bronze, then called it decoration. They were right.

This acid etched coffee table by Bernhard Rohne is bronze and glass, and dates to about 1970. Acid etching bites a design into metal, leaving parts of the surface raised and others eaten back, and it gives each panel an irregular, hand-drawn look. Here the metal covers the broad apron and four square legs, its gold-brown figures running across a near-black ground. Thin black and pale lines frame every edge. A glass panel fills the top. Fifty-five inches long and 17.75 high.

It looks like an ancient map of a place with very good taste.