Auction: Design

Design – A Balanced Mix

The upcoming design auction on 2 October 2019 will once again be dedicated to outstanding pieces of furniture from various decades, beginning with the late 19^th century through to contemporary discoveries.

The auction starts with 12 highlights, which also represent a cross-section of the assortment on offer.

This group contains, for example, Ettore Sottsass’s Liana bookshelf, of which the manufacturer Meccani had originally planned a production of 85 shelves, but in fact only produced around 10. The prototype of Tom Dixon’s Bolide recliner is also a piece from the first few pages of the catalogue. The design was modified in 1991 and produced in 1999 and 2006 by Cappellini as the “Bolide” model in limited numbers of 99 and 100 pieces. The prototype, which is lot number 7 in the auction, was purchased by the current owner directly in the designer’s workshop in London in 1990. This opening selection is rounded off with works by Adolf Loos and Hans J. Wegner as well as new discoveries from Baylar Barlas and the artist collectives Beloved Mafia and Based Upon. The 1^st part of the catalogue is concluded by the Gustostückerl – a table by Giacomo Manzù (cover image). This was a custom-made table for the Villa Sanremo by Alice Lampugnani in Bordighera and was designed by Giacomo Manzù in the carpentry workshop of Eugenio Gritti in Bergamo.

The main part of the catalogue is initially devoted to works by the Viennese luminaries Adolf Loos, Josef Hoffmann, Otto Wagner, Koloman Moser and Carl Witzmann as well as furniture by Portois & Fix, Thonet, Jacob and Josef Kohn. This is followed by furniture by Mart Stam, Marcel Breuer and Christian Dell, as well as objects by Marianne Brandt – all protagonists of the Bauhaus.

Objects by Bruno Paul, Josef Frank, Oswald Haerdtl, Carl Auböck, Roland Rainer and Karl Hagenauer form the transition to mid-century design. The next thematic complex will be dominated by lighting from the manufacturers Bakalowits & Söhne, J. T. Kalmar, Rupert Nikoll, Louis Poulsen, Barovier & Toso as well as furniture by designers such as Joe Colombo, Oswaldo Borsani, Poul Kjærholm, Preben Fabricius and Jørgen Kastholm and Hans J. Wegner respectively.

The auction draws to a close with the early, rare office chair JH502, designed by the Danish master carpenter Johannes Hansen. In addition to this, the catalogue also contains three other individual pieces of furniture and an ensemble by Hans J. Wegner.

Included in the catalogue section of modern and contemporary design, are other works by established greats such as Ettore Sottsass, Tom Dixon and Ron Arad as well as newcomers Baylar Barlas and Based Upon or the award-winning work “Eliro” by Peter Kuchler.

In 2019, the fusion light object “Eliro” was awarded the “Creative into the Future” prize in the arts and crafts category by the Lower Austrian Chamber of Commerce. Peter Kuchler III comes from a family of glassblowers who have been working with glass and its processing for several generations.

The artist collective Based Upon, led by the twin brothers Ian and Richard Abell, travels around the world to collect stories, memories, structures and history. In the London studio, these become sculptural works that deal with the concepts of wholeness and separation as well as the natural and the artificial.

Discover the selection of rare design classics as well as innovative and award-winning new discoveries!

Mathias Harnisch is a Design specialist at Dorotheum.

Cover: A Table, Giacomo Manzu, 1946/48, sculpturally moulded walnut in the form of bundled branches, wrapped with bronze cords and olive leaves, Bohemian crystal glass table top, estimate€ 80,000 – 120,000

View now the online catalogue!