Observer 098: You don't have to think about something to like it

Also: Why won't anyone give us a straight answer about The Cube?

No housekeeping today, straight into auctions. We got Memphis wild cards, two/three statement sofas (Ice Storm style 70s Italian/Japanese) within 100 miles of New York City, good Euro lots (for education and British/continental readers), two PERFECT Italian lamps (one I have, one I have been searching for for a decade)… and some ideas hidden within writeups as always—this is a market newsletter in name only...

Cubes are amazing…

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Price values from last weekend:

Above’s the best deal. four Saarinen Executive chairs from the ‘70s for objectively no money. (Price approx $1,000 vintage retail each.) Other great buys (steals in bold) on design pieces I linked to last week: Jeep bookshelf for BBB $475; two ripoff Tomado bookcases $350 (funny); Afdal rosewood sideboard $3k; Hardoy for Knoll Butterfly chair pair $200 (clown shoes); another set of them in rich tarp for $300; Baughman chrome sofa $950 (100 miles from NYC); Rohde-style room divider $300; Thonet 209 armchair $150; Four Saarinen Tulip chairs $1K; Breuer Laccio side table $300 (very normal); mint Cesca chair $275; Kristiansen 3’ wide wall unit $850 (this one was straight up beautiful); Colani pendant lamp $325; Lecal lipstick lamp same price (genius); Rasmussen loud as crap office chair $225; Ekselius nesting tables $325 (sensing a theme here); Frattini Megaron floor lamps pair $600; Knoll table/cabinet $350

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Obs 098

Frank Lloyd Wright Barrel chairs for Cassina, Mass: Part of a decent auction full of… well, lots more modern items than the above, but I am highlighting these great barrel chairs (from Cassina’s great late 1980s reissue) as an example of the variability of Wright’s work. I wrote about these chairs a couple years ago—said this 1989 redoing of Wright’s original 1937 piece is, when at auction price, really a print—cheaper, newer… But it is more than that… there is more utility in furniture here the newer it is. Up to a point. Brand-new stuff, maybe not. But a 1989 production is comforting. Probably will last a century. (To be sure, the 30s chairs hold up so well it’s staggering; they are ternal, and don’t need much rescuing even near-90 years later… new upholstery, cosmetic work). Anyways these are running lower than usual (one’s worth $1,000) at just $450

• Auction itself is worth a full skim; highlights from it, for me, are these Bohr Kartell modular bookshelves for $400 (reader Rachel bought the Hermès green pair I linked to last week), this lipstick armchair for only $200 (same design, roughly, as last week’s wondrous Lecal lamp), a Bertoia Bird chair for $250 (honestly one of his more refreshing pieces) and this lot of Vignelli/Heller pieces, a wider swatch of items than one normally sees (cheese graters by Bjarne Bo, serving tray) for only $100

Euro: Leonori for Pallucco Vipera chairs, four, Genoa: In the realm of European surprises—skimming through an over-there auction and leaving with some fondness for a half-dozen “new” designers—this one among the better I’ve seen this year. Strong lots (picks below), with the jump for me here these Vipera chairs, designed by Luca Leonori for Pallucco. A bit about all of it: the chairs were designed in the ‘80s, and call to mind… well, I don’t know, Castiglioni’s Stella chair (bike seat)… about that minimal and confrontational. But a bit more future-looking; not so much a commentary as Castiligoni’s was. Leonori was an architect—nice body of work, he did Nissan’s Italian headquarters and as a designer he rebranded Barilla spaghetti—and produced a range of fine stools (shaped like hangers; 1982); and a series of desks and chairs (1in2, 2in1) with the architect Stefano Stefani. Pallucco was founded by Paulo Pallucco in the 70s, many items by Mallet-Stevens (a goated pimp…), ‘90s pieces like this:

Breathtaking; listed above on Chairish

Really good. Viperas are … futuristic, stark, cold and minimal prime examples of 1980s design. You see one and your taste changes—think about the item, I guess, but you don’t have to to understand it. First time on auction, €250 for the group.

• House also has a set of Piva Arcara chairs (conservative and radical; never seen these before; maybe my fav. item this week) in teal for €600; some wild Laubersheimer shelves (curvy and swervy) for three times that price; desks, Sowden, rockers… so much… take a gander yourself.

Anselmi for Bieffeplast chairs, 80s, Detroit: Dude I had no idea Bieffeplast made chairs. I know them as a plastics/lighting company. These are by Anna Anselmi, who did the Yucca (sometimes spelled Yukka) mirror. That thing is so great. She also made this great bar trolley that’s basically a plastic box on casters—you never see it show up anywhere. To me these chairs are conversant with de Lucchi’s ‘First Chair’ (part of same auction, $550, ending this week), but more conservative. Haven’t sold before… though similar chairs from Anselmi (do u think she’s related to Philcore?) run in the $600 range, each. This set’s at $300. It’s part of a strong Detroit auction. I like auctions from there because items from estates in that region tend to belong to real people with real money, and that is. where good taste pools. It’s the second best auction this week I have seen. The third best is above, the best one is below the paywall and has the two sofas I mentioned, for nothing, investment seating, many lamps, MCM, deco. Anyways, Detroit has, conservatively, a dozen or so investment pieces. My picks include: