Snake Auction Observer 019
Kartell, De Sede, Roche Bobois, Knoll, Magistretti, Frattini, Zanotta..... etc
Snake Auction Observer: good furniture, undervalued, or eternal, all selected off LiveAuctioneers.com, with an emphasis this week on seating, Kartell, and auctions near and around NYC. Several auctions ending on publish day.
Housekeeping:
The book of SNAKE newsletters was will be out at the PRINTED MATTER ART BOOK FAIR on OCTOBER 13-16 2022 at the SHINING LIFE TABLE. Online orders around then.
I saw a Dystopia T-shirt in Carroll Gardens yesterday. Reverse gentrification!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s all happening. I am trying to remember whether they played Ottawa when I was in high school or not. The show isn’t listed on the city’s hardcore show archival blogspot (which has everything), but I remember them playing. I remember one winter going to see a tagger crust band, from California, who had a couple records and shirts out… they weren’t from Quebec or an East Coast city, and they weren’t Canadian. Only a couple California bands came through in my lifetime. Also, it was a weeknight, and that day I remember making a $140 CD order from Century Media order (so like four CDs), which I couldn’t stop thinking about. Can anyone confirm?
Follow me on Instagram @samsreiss as I will be occasionally posting auctions worth bidding on that did not make the cut late in the week.
Auctions:
Several Kartell items ending immediately, and later, CT: Pretty sure several Instagram shops stock from this house, today’s auction featuring their usual assortment—baseball cards, lithographs, menorahs, auction catalogs—and several great Kartell storage examples.
Two auctions for Anna Castelli Ferrieri’s Componibili, both original, without the black bottoms. One is for a Componibili in good shape, one is for a pair that’s off white and patina’d, which sold last year for $250. $50 and $160, respectively, ending today, either a deal or a steal.
Two auctions for Simon Fussell stackers, with both the white standard Fussell and a pissy-yellow one on wheels asking $50. Historically some have passed, some have sold; prices aren’t consistent. Ending in a couple days.
One final Fussell is yellowed to heck and in Maine. It’s from another auction house, is $100 and ends later this week.
Zanotta Soho wardrobe, CT: Same house. A wardrobe by Zanotta (an Italian company) from 2004. Lively design, nice light-colored and very garish wood, with the blue is the same color as many financial documents. Which is even more harsh. This type of storage, the big old chest, seems to have gone the way of the propeller beanie; sad. Which means it’s a chance to get ahead of the pack. Brutal piece. No sale history, reportedly $8,000 retail; deal at $450
Breuer chairs, Fl, In-house shipping (IHS): A Florida house selling mostly grandma items (porcelain hedgehogs, tea sets), but also some hits from Marcel Breuer, specifically:
A lot of three Cesca chairs for Knoll, running at $50, and
A single B64 chair, for Thonet, asking half that. *Its seat is ripped.)
Cescas with the Park Ave. stickers date between 1961 and 1970, the B64 maybe around then. Prices are all over. The favorite Breuer chair of R&M Corporation, the solutions company I sit on the board of, is the B5:
Seen here on the split handbill flyer with Nuclear War Now (third in a series) that R&M designed for Snake to promote Sheer Drift, a book available October 13 or so from Shining Life Press. Wow!
Percival Lafer MP-41 couch, NYC: Lafer (Percival) slides between eras, or aesthetics at least, with making sofas that sit somewhere between Polo Bar and Venice Beach 1961, but also tougher, since he’s Brazilian and ate a pound of red meat a day. House has a matching Ottoman, a decent set of Saporiti armchairs, a fine Borge Morgenstern desk (Mamma Mia), lots of posters, art. These fetch anywhere between $2,000 and $7,000 lately; deal at $850
George Nelson 4-seater sling sofa, Philly: Top five sofa for me: Tough, plain, universal, simple, radical/harsh. Goes with every style; the best Nelson pieces are in their own universe. These tend to run reliably above $2,000; often higher; a deal at $1,100
Magistretti Maralunga sofa for Cassina, Dallas (see shipping note): Vico Magistretti’s Maralunga was produced in hundreds, and this one is the most plain Maralunga I have ever seen. Does it matter? It’s in excellent shape, is big, and the grey is so plain it’s almost tacky. Maralungas don’t command high auction prices… but they are almost exclusively available overseas. This one’s note only in Dallas, but is being auctioned by Heritage, a house and website, who when I won an item off them last year quoted me very reasonable shipping. It’s not only a chance at a deal, it’s a very good couch you can actually buy. $900
Zanotta Quadritondo dining table, Philly: Nearly Rick Owens-y: very rugged and dark. Most dining tables aren’t this direct. House has some van der Rohe, a great Knoll credenza, Lagardo Tackett planters (never see these), Paul Evans and a nice Saarinen marble tulip table, for $400, but the Zanotta seems like the better move. Only one has sold, in a different color scheme, for $1,400. $500
Kita Dodo recliner, Philly: Wrote about Toshiyuki Kita the other week, and an auction for this chair in a different color; this one’s better and less expensive. Only $500. Since I extend a consider severely order on all Kitas under $2K, this one, rises above that appellation to become the Snake Lock of the Week. Finally.
Mourgue Bouloum chair, TORONTO: There is almost never anything good on auction in Canada. Because its cities are so spread apart, and it’s too cold for cars to last a long time, old items just don’t last as long. There’s no resale or hustle. Auction has a Wassily, otherwise it’s china and pillows. Bouloums don’t auction for much (not sure why), but this is only $375 (CAD). If it’s not snatched up by a reader I’ll be disappointed.
Frattini Megaron for Artemide lamp, Hudson NY: Few things better than a loud single column lamp. Frattini of course made nesting tables and the Sesann; house has the same lamp in white (for less), some nice silver Kinsman chairs, and plenty of decent to good generic mid-modern furniture; skim it if you want to get a few things. Also an amazing Peter Pepper (?) magazine rack that is new to me. These sell for $4-500. $275
De Sede convertible DS140 (by Frigg) lounge/sofa, Hudson: Luxe, simple, black leather, designed by Reto Frigg (Pynchon name; this was their hit). As a well-upholstered luxury couch under $1,000 that is nearby, it’s a must buy, or must consider. People don’t usually associate liquidity with furniture, but this couch is liquid. You don’t have to love the 140, but I promise you it looks different in person, and is an improvement over what most of us (not me) probably are using as a sofa right now. But because it is liquid you can sell it right away when you find the one you really want. It’s not one step, but two to an upgrade. But they’re fun steps. $300
Quick hits:
Pair of Haussman for De Sede 302 club chairs, $400, CT (real solid)
Sergio Asti “Collina” porcelain vase, $50, CT (modular, for Gabbianelli, 60s; sick)
LC3 Sofa (newer) and Ottoman, black, $2,100, MN
Roche Bobois massive Longhorns orange sectional sofa (og label), $500, FL
Two RB French deco sofas (contrast stitching, loveseat size), $500, FL
Piretti for Castelli lucite chairs (four; great shape), $100, PA (steal)
Lissoni for Cassina Nest sofa (1995, amazing shape, pistachio color), $50, CT (wow)
Very wild Frattini “Kyoto” coffee table, $550, Hudson NY (a favorite)
Absolutely wrecked LC2 sofa (totally shredded), $100, Hudson
Thanks for reading.
Snake
Best substack thanks for posting as always
the canada statement is hella real lol :( sadly written from vancouver