Eagles
Collection Créations 2025
YMER&MALTA / Valérie Maltaverne
2025
The Eagles Table takes up the codes of the ceremonial table, which disappeared with the advent of design, when appearance became secondary to function.
The ceremonial table, more decorative than useful, expressed the luxury and status of its owner.
YMER&MALTA, without denying the tradition of exceptional materials and craftsmanship, turns it into a precious object that can be used every day.
After defining a free form—like that of a bird—yet rigorously calculated to provide a convivial gathering for 12 people, I had to design a powerful marquetry to evoke the discreet, sober plumage with its strong presence.
After the long drawing phase to capture the wings came the crucial moment of selecting the veneers.
After many trials and around thirty varnished samples, I realized that I needed to use woods of similar tones but with varied textures.
In my research, I had come across a rare example of different veneers taken from the same trunk of bog oak.
Everything is harmonious, but the part submerged in mud is darker than the portion slightly exposed to light: straight-grain wood with its fine regular pattern, and crown-cut wood, difficult to work but spectacular—an infinity of combinations from veneers cut from the same trunk, forgotten for thousands of years at the bottom of a marsh.
Once cut, each of the 500 pieces is numbered and positioned so that the grain of the wood follows the movement of feathers.
Time is the secret behind the magic of YMER&MALTA’s creations.
Yet the work of Mouloud Ammour, a talented cabinetmaker and marquetry artist, is far from complete.
Shaping the table edges in a Scottie profile is a remarkable prowess of routing for a table of such dimensions. On the edges, each piece is hand-fitted and applied with hot glue. Even the invisible parts are veneered so that every component of the table, when dismantled and viewed separately, appears visually perfect.
The tabletop is a masterpiece and deserves legs of equal stature.
For technical reasons, the legs must be made of solid wood, without the richness of marquetry. Yet they still needed to evoke the organic quality of a bird’s leg.
A rare and precious wood that conveys this sense of life exists : Ziricote, with its spectacular grain.
Sold by weight and difficult to source in large dimensions, it was nonetheless an obvious choice. As was the use of a delicate Japanese joint that we had experimented with at another scale for our series of trivets. A consistency across collections that is the signature of YMER&MALTA.
Today’s highly resistant finishing varnishes make the table suitable for daily use.
The Eagles Table, a ceremonial table, is destined for the aesthetes of the 21st century.
L: 143 x l:160 x H:75
Woods, marquetry
Limited edition of 12 pieces.
Other pieces of the same type :
Tables and desks
Black Snake
Coffee Table
Marquetry of dyed pear tree wood, white ebony, matt lacquered steel
