S.A.M. wood table, 1941
The work begun on a new dining table in 1939 was taken up again during the War as part of plans for staff facilities at the Solvay plant in Dombasle. The metal base principle already developed—flanged, tapering legs connected by a welded, double-Y tubular brace—was retained and adapted to new requirements: saving metal and a demountable system. The solid wood legs with their marked camber were mounted on the brace with metal stirrups and fixed directly to the top with brackets. At the end of the War this S.A.M. table was made in small sets for the domestic market. The TS 11 table, later named TS 12, was given a “Meubles de France” award in 1947, along with all the dining room furniture then being offered by the Ateliers Jean Prouvé. It was modified with a view to improving the mountings and making assembly easier: the bolted stirrups disappeared, with the tubing of the brace fitting into the legs. A slot was sawn into the legs to provide greater flexibility during assembly and clamping was effected using blind nuts, threaded rod and large, visible washers. The metal brackets on the legs were mounted on an iron insert screwed into the underside of the tabletop. Another version dating from 1947 and made in small batches included a brace made of two curved, parallel tubes welded together. The tube was mounted on the legs with screws and washers; the same system was used for the metal tenon welded to the brace for the assembly of the base and top. As with the other mass-produced wooden items of furniture, the solid oak of the legs and top was gradually replaced with plated oak or, in exceptional cases, an entirely different type of wood. The table was delivered in kit form—top, legs, frame, screws and bolts—with an assembly diagram. After various changes to details—notably the mounting of the brace on the legs with machined tube—the wooden table went into production in 1951 as no. 502, at the same time as the metal-base version.