Snake Auction Observer: good furniture, undervalued, or eternal, all selected off LiveAuctioneers.com, with an emphasis this week on Knoll, Cini Boeri. Immediate auctions first…
Auctions:
Gismondi lamps, CT: Big auction ending shortly in Connecticut, lots of modern and Italian and design-free elements. These ‘80s Ernesto Gismondi (did these lamps, similar industrial models, also founded Artemide) stand out. Not as popular as his Sintesi but still brutal and direct. Maybe as good? The color contrast here is the key; white one’s not bad. Not much price history; a pair sold for $400 not long ago, the rest passed. The best one had green lights, and sold in 2005. $50
Knoll steel end table, CT: Very plain and nearly design-free, same auction as above—ending now, lots of hits—but also made in the ‘50s, going off the Knoll Madison Ave. sticker (half worn off). Hard to price these—don’t pay a ton—but it’s more novelty here. Pink rhino style, how is something so old so plain? One of those pieces of furniture that shatters design conceptions—most of the ones like these seem to be made by big firms. $50
Knoll Bill Stephens armchair, CT: More Knoll; Bill Stephens started working for Knoll out of college and designed the 1300 for them, which you’ve seen. It’s the chair in most college libraries. This one too. Not much online about these, they’re different from the 1300—(Stephens chair)—if only because of the base. I… the more I look at it I like it. Very None have sold in a couple years. $50
Cini Boeri ghost chair, Chicago: I wrote about Boeri’s ghost chair last week referencing a Miami/Dubai/Mann-style glass table, and that it’s on auction this weeks makes a case either for manifesting better things for oneself (I own a chair) or that, more likely, it was in my head scrolling my LA bookmarks. Super strong, close enough to the rest of her work (some below) to not go full futurist. These auction regularly, run anywhere between 2 and 3500. Wright, the house, has a lot of good stuff now up for auction, including an actual Charlotte Perriand door (unreal), beautiful Mathieu Mategot shelves, an intense Jules Buoy cabinet, much more. Steal at $450
Boeri gradual system sofa, Chicago: Boeri as a designer is known in design circles, but she isn’t the demigod outside it that it should be. Why don’t people love Boeri like they love Pesce? Who knows. Her sofas might be the key—the Brigadier (cool name) is a favorite—and this one, new to me, is up there most work she’s done. Sits half around Vitsoe seating from the ‘60s (hard white shell) but with the Royere sofa texture from before then. Sadly, this newsletter cannot confer fame on anyone, only the honor of Snake Lock of the Week, which, in many ways, is more lasting. $1,500
Esherick type table, Oakland: Hard, very hard, to get a nice wood table that is well made and isn’t ass, this one holds a depressed price because nobody important made it, but… someone talented made it, since that’s how most furniture was produced back then. Also, good wood. House has some nice sterling dishware, rugs, federal furniture and other accoutrements that wouldn’t look out of place in a Howard Hawks movie. $250, steal for someone nearby.
Takahama Suzanne chairs for Knoll, DC: I wrote about a pair of Suzanne chairs by Takahama in an early November Observer; they were Rolex green and went for $2,500. These look a bit more casual—fabric’s less tight—and are purple, which is half gaudy. House has some hits, including a Shell Gas shell, a safari chair (by the other guy), otherwise mostly grandma furniture and pastoral scenes. $500
Tandem bent oak chair, NYC: Good chair, but a thin line of success—don’t have any information on this but a beautiful shape. We’re still very much in the furniture dark ages, and a lot of what passes for good taste is context and interior decoration… i.e. pieces together. That means a lot of things, one of which is that even the most questionable piece, frankly, can “work” (not hit a brown note, or take a wild risk) within a successful context… kind of how like some people can wear big dangly earrings with nice Charvet shirts. This is all theoretical—you know it when you see it—but it’s a real thing, and the real way interior situations improve is when people go higher calorie on the furniture they like. Buy something you like, or like a lot, but don’t love love, live with it, sell it off, move onto something you like more. Some people do this with dogs, some with jeans, some with [redacted]. Then repeat. That’s how you grow… half-mistakes. $300
Ended:
Hoffmann Kubus stools, LA: Out of an auction with lots of antiques, purses and these Charlotte Perriand stools, this set of club chairs that I believe I’ve written about, with the square pattern similar to the old Superstudio tables… and D-tile that is found in Japan and Milan. A good idea to associate these with the chairs’ stout shape. Still, theyre quiet. Josef Hoffman also made mucho grandma furniture and designed buildings; These haven’t been selling for anything lately. Not a deal deal deal deal, but a half deal, someone got these fair for $1,600
Quick hits:
Three Stoppino-style nesting tables, $300, CT (great, patina)
Gianni Offredi for Saporiti Wave settees (two), $300, CT (wild deal if it stays)
Beautiful Paul McCobb planner chairs, $140, pair, CT (quiet, beautiful)
Teak farmhouse Folke Palsson for FDB chair, $200 NYC (even better!)
Thanks for reading.
Snake