Emergency Snake Auction Observer 045: best auction I've seen in years, ending Tuesday
Register TONIGHT (Monday) for cheap, cheap, cheap perfect Italian furniture; near NYC
Snake Auction Observer: good furniture, undervalued, or eternal, often selected off LiveAuctioneers.com. This week, a short episode focusing on one auction ending TOMORROW in Pennsylvania. Lots and lots and lots of good stuff… but first:
Housekeeping:
Miami book launch is FRIDAY. There will be a screening on Thursday, the particulars of which depend on how the Miami Heat will play their second half (hey Sami, put Heat score here—thanks, loyal Snake intern Frankie Boy). Will show Howard Hawks’ Scarface (1932) either way. Info on the event here:
Toronto event was a success. Books were sold, free Canadian candys were consumed, and many loyal readers watched a very brilliant Yakuza film.
Ferrari now has the chance to get it together. The question many are asking is whether they will.
Auctions:
This house in Pennsylvania, Oddities and Antiques, came into a great collection of Italian modern furniture—the fun stuff from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Actually, it is the best auction I have seen in years. There is so much good stuff. So much of it is cheap. Lots of it doesn’t have many watchers. There are many, many big hitters (pieces that are popular; which have been posted before) and many subtle items (pieces that have never been posted before but which were released by giant furniture companies to the entire market of Europe).The auction has many other pieces (of garbage) as well.
Everything is ending TUESDAY MORNING. As in 10 AM or so Tuesday. There are lots of lots so the bids I am sure will go down after 11 AM. That said, you should/have to register TONIGHT (Monday night) so you can bid Tuesday.
Here are the best of the bunch:
Beckman Karelia chair (1966) by Zanotta, $425
This is one of the best pieces of crap anyone has ever designed… the fact that it only costs money to own it is unfathomable (Lijsi Beckmann designer, look em up).
Colombo “Pupil” drafting table for Bieffeplast (70s), $350
This thing is on the short list of not only best desks ever designed, but best anything ever. Up there with a Coke can and early 1980s Walkmen. Just perfect, it surprises me every time I look at it. Equivalent to owning a Picasso. Seriously
Parigi/Prina Orix desk for Molteni (my favorite desk), ‘70s, $650
My favorite desk… not the best desk, but my favorite. Everyone has a favorite—ideally it should be different than the biggest or most discussed. Whose favorite band is the Rolling Stones, know what I mean?
Kartell three-legged stool (never seen this before) $125
Perfect, precarious design.
1.25’ tall ashtray by G. Ferrari for Kartell, $50
From the golden era of smoking, when ashtrays were as tall as the short children whose very growth was stunted by the cigs their parents/water polo coaches smoked around them indoors.
Joe Colombo 1.25’ tall ashtray for Kartell, $50
Look at this photo… another human-sized ashtray… this is the wrong can… but at least it is back… for the last year or so auction houses, maybe as a sort of Incan act of violence against me, have been holding off on their usage of Coke cans (red Coke) as markers for scale. I have for a while been cataloging them. Since I have been writing my newsletter, they have gone underground. But they are slowly, albeit with the wrong can (soup), returning to the high path… in two months, we’ll see Cokes…
Anna Castelli Ferrieri 4300 table for Kartell, $200
Very harsh with interesting legs… Ferrieri tables like, never sell… never… maybe one a decade.
Joe Colombo poker table (!) for Zanotta, ‘68, $225
This is the best deal in America. This is up there with buying the island of Manhattan for 60 guilders. If one of my readers doesn’t buy this table, a store in Brooklyn will. They will sell it for $1,800. They will post it on their Instagram even after it is sold. It will be impossible to buy on Instagram even if you are on Instagram all the time. That is how worthless buying furniture on Instagram is. The world is a beautiful place. There are deals every day. You can break the chains. Just bid. Even if this sells for $1,100 it’s worth it. It never, ever, ever sells in America.
Kazuhide Takahama Marcel chair, ‘68, for Gavina, $325
Perfect minimal piece, the only very very minimal piece in this auction…
Magistretti Selene chair (‘68), for Artemide, $50
You simply cannot buy Magistretti for two figures anywhere…
Albert Rosselli Jumbo chair for Saporiti, ‘68, $600
Heard about this one for a while; have never seen a photo of a white one before…
Castiglioni Rochetto table for Kartell, $125
This is the most insane set of deals in America. Even if this goes for $700 it’s worth it. It’s as beautiful as a Boby trolley, but is more useful, and no one—no one—no one—that is nobody—nobody you know—not even me—has it. Buy it. And let me just state that the above 2.7 sentences relate to just about anything here. Some people can’t even bench their weight, other people wear Asics, even more people are afraid of the sun, and many think everything is boring… some look to dull people for new things… life doesn’t have to be this way. There is high level crap for nothing everywhere. You just have to roll the dice and not be afraid to be the first over the line.
Colombo Birillo table for Sormani 1971, $275
This has never sold in America… no one has ever made a table base this good.
Rodolfo Bonetto Boomerang chair for Flexform (‘68), $375
Perfect chair; rare aesthetic, never really auctions in North America…
Magistretti Tondara for Artemide table ‘68, $125
I basically have this one, but square… I bought it in 2014. There’s another one in Hamas green but it is much harder to find… I am sure I can track it down if I want to, but it will have to wait until after I go to MIAMI (see Housekeeping Item No. 2 above)…
Cini Boeri Botolo chair ‘73 for Arflex, $750
It’s apeshit to me how Boeri isn’t a bigger designer than, I don’t know, Eames. She is the highest level of savant/genius/seer—her work is so strong and direct and… there… and well, I just don’t get why she isn’t a demi-god. I’m sure she’s so paid it doesn’t even matter. I’m not going to fight battles for some retired millionaire. But man, her work is nails, and our lives would be richer if her stuff was even more everywhere.
Giovanni Maur Treco (Canada) chair, ‘68, $75
Treco is crazy, Maur did a lot of work for them, and it stayed in Canada, though some came here. I’m more familiar with his dressers than this chair, which has the color of frozen raw milk—indeed, a beautiful shade of yellow.
Odds and ends—all under $100 unless stated
Sottsass Cometa lamp for Poltronova, $1,600 (tall bitch)
Becker Utensilo (big, red), $225 (insane deal, the animals on IG sell this for $1,200 now)
Robin Day tote coffee table ‘72 (British designer) (this thing is unbelievable)
Here are the rest of the auctions. There are so many. Look through them all.
Register for these auctions on Monday night (register button is below the auctioneer name). This is a last-minute email, but I am doing so on purpose. This auction is not about thinking. It’s about acting. You don’t need to make an excel spreadsheet about whether these items are worth it or not. There are a handful that are beyond the pale unbelievable. If you in any way have a desire to upgrade your home furniture situation, and you don’t let it fly tonight and bid high tomorrow, then you have failed. I am sorry to be cruel, but. you have. This is the sign from the universe that you can rise above whatever you have in your home that you don’t like and have something actually special that is beautiful to look at. It doesn’t cost very much money. UHaul is only a phone call away. They rent cars by the day everywhere. None of these pieces are very big and need anything more than the smallest van. You can go next weekend or the following weekend. It is easy. You can even make a day of it and get some Old Forge pizza. There are no excuses. This is America. If you don’t like where you’re at, well, the good Lord has answered you with a subscription to my newsletter and I don’t know what other sign you need to improve your life if the sentences above didn’t trigger a push to a movement. I want this for you. I want the water level to rise. It’s not hard. You can do it. Do it.
No other auctions this week are worth writing about.
Thanks for reading.
Snake