In the Czech Republic, glass is more than a business. In the Lusatian Mountains, the earliest archaeological glassblowing sites date back some 800 years, with the region’s famed Bohemia Crystal becoming globally renowned for its clarity and curvature in the centuries to come, taking pride of place in the imperial palaces of France, Austria and Russia. Today, the evolving industry remains a well of cultural heritage and a civic point of pride, with contemporary marvels ranging from Lasvit’s whimsical Glass House to the wealth of artisanal makers that dot the country. The latest delight? A striking pair of handblown occasional tables by SkLO.

For SkLO, a company named for the Czech word for glass, the two new table series are an inaugural venture into furniture. Established in 2009 and acclaimed for its expressive pendant lighting collections and glass accessories, the California-based manufacturer infuses Czech heritage — including its artisanal manufacturing studio in Bohemia — with an unpretentious west coast sense of experimentation. SkLO’s two new table collections, Field and Join, are a case in point. The delicate, ethereal quality of handblown glass meets the unfussy sturdiness and simple functionality of residential furniture.

It makes for a surprisingly happy marriage. Join, the formally simpler of the two designs, combines a sinuous blown glass tabletop with a heavy Carrara marble base. A simple ring of brass protects the joint between glass and stone, accenting the table’s hourglass shape with a luxurious grace note. While weight and gravity ensure a solid piece, the interplay of transparent glass — available in three colours — and stone makes for a distinctive presence. For added stability, the heavy marble base is topped by a slender cone, which sits inside the glass stem, imbuing the table with an eye-catching sense of depth and texture.

“Join explores different materials and their relationships to one another within the overall design,” says SkLO co-founder Paul Pavlak. “The story draws on associations — hardness and fragility, transparency and solidity. Here, the relationship between glass and stone is boldly innocent, preserving the simplicity of the idea.” The table is available in two sizes, various glass colours and four brass finishes.

A compact side table, the size of Join’s top is restricted by the limitations of a single piece of blown glass. Conversely, Field — offered in three sizes — leverages playful repetition to create larger surfaces, culminating in a showpiece coffee table. Evocative of inverted bottles or carafes, a tabletop of cylindrical glass forms is held within a hexagonal brass structure. Both the metal and glass elements are offered in a variety of finishes and colours, including both transparent and frosted glass options.

“We wanted to bring bold yet soothing colours to these artisanally crafted pieces,” says SkLo co-founder Karen Gilbert, describing the two new table series. And while Field and Join offer contrasting aesthetic expressions, both designs are a testament to the colour, form and layered transparency of handblown glass. Centuries after adorning European palaces, Czech glass feels right at home in the living room.