Snake Auction Observer 017
Many ending today: Knoll, Esherick, Castiglioni, Piva, Kita and a new Finnish designer
Snake’s Auction Observer 17, 10 items on LiveAuctioneers.com ending this week, several ending TODAY. Undervalued and affordable—auctions ending soonest first. Instructions on using LA in older letters. Feedback is welcome—if you’re looking for a certain style or piece, hit me up.
Housekeeping:
I profiled Terry Allen, the artist and musician, for Creem Magazine. The profile is on the magazine’s website and is gated to subscribers, however a Q&A I did with Allen is available to read even if you are not subscribed. I need someone to drive me and my raw milk home from Clinton Hill on Friday afternoon—if you feel up to the task I will gladly trade you a PDF of my story for safe conveyance.
The recession is so bad that Balthazar has stopped giving out branded Balthazar pens when you sign the check. We got a Bic — and left it where it belonged next to the espresso and crumbs.
I went with with Jay Bil to pick up the “Life’s A Mission” book with the REVS cover that was put together by him, XSOUP, with ARBOR last weekend, and am reading through it before I send it to its rightful home. The stories and photographs within are a Rashomon to the New York portrayed in films, fiction, the news and so on; it is correct. Everything about this book is a success. Parts of it are very beautifully written. Shout out Bill in line who discussed my Sol Lewitt yarmulke with me at length. Beautiful.
Nguyen Inc fashion show was great. Excited to see what’s next.
Auctions:
Knoll Essentials Pro side/office chair, PA: Unappetizing photo, but hear me out. Office chairs, as I’ve written about, are tough to nail unless the objective is staid. But this Knoll’s fun and harsh, with good detail. House is heavy with very cheap similar furniture; not much price history on this one. New with tags (very rare for furniture), steal at $25, ending immediately
Knoll Sapper management chair, PA: Same genus of chair, different species, designed by Richard Sapper, who’s behind a few Knoll items and also a handsome monitor arm. Gaudier, leather. The brown ones sell for a couple hundred. This one, at $25 is a steal and is ending immediately
Wharton Esherick three-legged stool, Hudson NY: Very strange pricing for this, though perhaps indicative of our age, where these beautiful stools that used to consistently auction for $5,000 a decade ago now still sit around there but can also be consistently found a couple of times a year for half this price or less. A glitch, but not a scam, since everyone seems to good for wood now. Auction is extremely bourgeois, and has a beautiful Fournier bar cart, a luxe rosewood exec desk, a Yousuf Karsh photo of Jean Cocteau that was probably taken in Ottawa (where I’m from) , McCobb, Gucci/LV luggage (great), much more. Possible deal at $1,600, ending this morning
Castiglioni primate kneeling stool, Chi/LA: Achille Castiglioni may be the greatest stool designer there is. He made the one with the bike seat and the one with a tractor seat. This one’s even better. The only chairs that look like this are seiza benches, and those are meant to be used differently. House has another in white—both are the Snake Locks of the Week—other Castiglioni stools, a Breuer H01 (goat), many many more fine stools. $250, ending today
Knoll ‘parallel bar’ coffee table, Chi.: An almost automatic purchase recommendation here, near showroom shape, big and with the Madison Ave. tag (pre-1961). While this is not a steal—past Knoll parallel tables don’t sell for much—I’m hitting this thing with Snake’s inaugural timeless buy recommendation: It’s old, great, slightly out of style, completely beyond it, and, most important, indestructible. They can’t all be Thayer Coggins; you need to buy plain, perfect pieces. Such deals are only on LA. $500
Henry P Glass cylindrica dining set, Chi: Not worth a photo here, but new to me: a checkerboard, dark wood, subtle table with tulip-like chairs, more mid-modern than spacey. Not much price history on Glass, and expensive at $1,600, but fair for a well-constructed dining set with intention.
Saarinen-style marble tables and chairs, Detroit: Like Glass, this isn’t Saarinen but tries to be. It’s expensive at $1,500—real Carrara tables don’t sell for much—but getting a set together, real or fake, takes work. Maybe a fair price to someone. Check out the story below: Saarinen’s gumar was a pioneering publicity agent, she left her New York Times job to grow his business and be with him; he left his chick for her.
Dick Schultz Rosewood/chrome coffee table, NJ: Perfect Schultz table here, Richard seems to be more of a patio furniture guy than somber rosewood. Some go for a lot, some don’t. House is heavy with good teak and a Hans Hopfer Mah Jong Bobois sofa that needs to be seen to be believed. Deal at $200
Piva B&B Italia Adria bed, NJ: The amount of very designed beds in America can be counted on one hand, with a 200% margin for error. As in one by Pierre Cardin, another by Loewy (scroll down), another by another guy I can’t remember from the 2000s, this thing, and two more for safe measure. Right? Anyone? 81x92”, King sized—maybe California—but not sure if the numbers includes the side tables, so caveat emptor. No sale history, but a steal at $500
Toshiyuki Kita Cassina Dodo chair, Alameda CA: At the risk of tipping my editorial hand, I’m writing a SNAKE LORE on Kita, this chair’s designer, who might be the most underrated furniture designer there is, or at least most underrated guy who makes chairs. The Wink is my favorite, and this Dodo, right behind, is nearly perfect: open, strong, light, wild. These chairs pass as often as they sell and this one is a re-list. House also has rugs, McIntosh stereo equipment, much silverware, a large Tibetan mandala. Deal at $750
Loewy DF2000 desk/cabinet, Freehold NY: I have this thing, it is amazing, one of my absolute favorite pieces of furniture. I wrote about the Giovanni Maur tribute pieces last week, which are excellent in their own right, but this the real deal defies superlatives. Seller has the other cabinet and a file photo of the bed (?). In amazing shape, too. These go for a lot of money, less a piece of furniture than a work of art, and a steal at $500
Yjro Kukkapuro dining set, suite of seven, Oakland: All that talk above about fake Saarinen and Glass, though this is much better. No one ever talks about Kukkapuro, who my friend Sully got me into after discovering him when he moved to Finland (which is where Beherit are from). YK is the missing link between Italy and Scandinavia and may be the best deal in furniture right now. There are also some chairs up by another seller. Expect a SNAKE LORE soon. $750
Quick hits:
Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin console with benches, NJ $425
Milo Baughman style (aka bobo) chrome slat side tables NJ $425
Pfister for Knoll club chairs (never seen these before) Hudson NY $1,000
Paulin Mushroom stool (legit) Chicago/LA $75
Panton chrome Pantrella lamp (reissue), NJ $100
Bertoia plastic Knoll chairs (set of 4) MONTREAL $100 (sadly not much more furniture in this auction)
Martine Bedin Memphis lamp (cutie with wheels, classic), $600, CT
LC2 armchairs, newer, decent, debatably real, $350 CT
Thanks for reading — bid hard.
Snake
Other work: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-JLRt0Ec6gZBm50hATYCYmLctnF9GhVijoEbam50JSw/edit?overridemobile=true
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