Gibert Rohde’s “Ectoplastic” desk is one of the earliest examples of furniture in the United States featuring the biomorphic shapes associated with Surrealism, a global movement that explored the accidental, the irrational, and the subconscious workings of the mind. Melding fantasy and functionalism, the curvilinear work surface appears to float on top of the leg and base. Rohde designed this desk for the Herman Miller Furniture Company as part of the Paldao Group, an 80-piece furniture suite named for the distinct wood with contrasting grain that appears on the desktop.