Snake Auction Observer: good furniture, undervalued, or eternal, all selected off LiveAuctioneers.com. This week—lots of great items from Los Angeles and quite great modern shelving. Immediate auctions at the top, and quick hits at the bottom, but first:
Housekeeping:
This baseball hat is for sale again. It commemorates Snake America fandom, and Snake’s relationship to R&M Corp., a solutions company:
Thank you Matt Bellosi for help with the graphics and for the hat graphics, and to R&M Corp.
BUY: snakeusa.bigcartel.com/product/fanclub-hat
I made this hat in October when my book came out and it sold out immediately. I’ve printed it again in azzurri, or Yankees colors. This is an apostasy. I never thought I would do this. I will state for the record that I am the anonymous seller quoted here, in the story that ran on Grantland several years ago about Yankees Suck T-shirts being sold outside Fenway:
He is my friend Ray. For several years I sold these shirts outside Fenway Park. One of the best times of my life; I loved the Boston Red Sox. I spent all my money on Arc’Teryxs and Kong bars. When the article was published in the mid 2010s I had to ask Amos its writer to refrain from using my name because I was interviewing with Major League Baseball to keep my job (they just bought my company; I used to work there). Years have passed, and I have changed, and am no longer professionally scared of this business having been a part of my life. Though I do feel summarily guilty about a non-Boston colorway. Nevertheless, I need the money to buy new jeans.
Buy the hats here: snakeusa.bigcartel.com/product/fanclub-hat
Auctions:
Cassini cab chairs, NY state: Decent auction full of wildcards (Missoni/Hermes ties, fiberglas Eames, big display pedestals); this sticks out. Bellini edited Domus in the ‘80s (great print era), designed the Camaleonda, was an architect… these chairs, from a LA footprint perspective, are his grand achievement. These particular ones look recent… not much patina. Six identical ones (2010 prod) sold for $3,500; six wild cards with varied colors sold for much less. Earlier prices vary; $650
Max Baguara Laser lamp for Lamperta, NY: Confusing image with the collapsible 5’x7’ white photo backdrop in the background. Baguara has made mostly this lamp, and little else. The one work was in ‘79 and for Lamperti, an Italian lighting firm. Only other Baguara hit is the Troller, which might share an era. This one’s the Laser (auctioneer doesn’t know) and fits into the ‘70s Italian-Kagan Venn diagram overlap. That grey area shrinks by the month, but the items that sit there are very strong in person. Stores ask between $600 and $1,000 for these; auction prices sit around $300. Same house as above. It’s a benefit shop, which is why all the wild cards. $50
Arne Jacobsen Cylinda set, Van Nuys: Arne Jacobsen, like many great film directors, was born in early February. He was an architect responsible for the Radisson Royal Hotel in Copenhagen (perfect building), the Søholm Row Houses north of that city and a dozen other great buildings that can be gotten to from there. His furniture work (Egg, Swan… long list of chairs) is, to be frank, best ignored. Maybe a more honest assessment later, but I’m not a fan. This Cylinda set from ‘64 feels like a watershed moment in table settings: simple, minimal and futuristic, almost devoid of ornamentation. Very plain and advanced. In a sense, the perfect modernist accessory. Very much no serifs. Doesn’t look far off from all the great pointy deco tea kettles and so on from 30-ish years before. These can be bought new from Stelton—but why do that? Comes with Georg Jensen spoons. These don’t go for much because nobody knows anything. Steal of the auction at $125
Venturi Gothic Revival chair, Van Nuys: Also for sale from the same house, one of the lesser-seen Robert Venturi-Denise Scott Brown Knoll family chairs. They attacked the following designs: Chippendale, Empire, Queen Anne, Art Deco, Gothic Revival, Hepplewhite, Art Noveau and Biedermeier… Chippendale and Queen Anne seem to get most of the bids. I think the Biedermeier might be my favorite? Gothic revival furniture is dark and spiky. Price history on these dips into the dark era: one with the bacterio-kinda design selling for $5K in 2016, a pair selling for around double that a decade ago. House has a set of Chippendales, a dining set, and the Art Nouveau one with the off-center back. Doesn’t get better. They’re also selling some Winograd pics and beautiful Toshiko Takaezu ceramics. $1,500
Zanotta leather ottomans, Ct.: I highlighted a pair of Soriana ottomans the other week, being sold alone, without their parent chair, as a design curio—a way to get some loud Italian design in the home but without a very large footprint. Anyways, they sold for $3,300. These Zanottas are that but more harsh, and I think they go with the square Willie Landel sofa that is sometimes seen in nicer doctors’ offices. (Never go to a doctor unless you need surgery.) Sans Landel I see these working better at an artist’s studio or any other functional space. Clearly not much price history, though an identical set of Zanotta Ottomans was listed for auction earlier this year and did not sell. House is putting up much gold, Tiffany settings, GI Joes (nothing exciting), a Windsor bench, and fake Cesca chairs… perfect Connecticut auctioneer. $75
Pesce Up7 foot (with box), LA: Always rare to see packing/display materials along with the item in question in a non-furniture setting, it’s something one sees much more of with strict collectibles. The box (which is beautiful) reminds me of the fun fact about Duane, who co-ran Some Records (great NYC store in the 1980s), and him keeping all the mailers from when he bought records for himself. A decade or so ago his collection went up for sale and so you could buy his Dangerhouse 7”s along with the envelopes with Dave’s (maybe?) handwriting. That sort of ephemera to me is worth more than the item in question, or at least as much. These extras may be the only thing the sick [redacted] toy collectors get right. That said, Billings is auctioning off an identical foot without the box for $1,000 less than what this one is getting. Too rich? Yes, maybe too rich. As for what this says about Pesce: Nothing we didn’t know. He’s different, and he’s the king. The Up7 (it should just be called Foot) is arresting in person (I’ve seen three, but never together), and black is a better color than red because it’s more powerful and less poppy. This one’s at $2,500, which is what they all tend to sell for without the box.
I also want to highlight a few more great listings from this Billings auction. Some deals and some nice ones:
Bambole settee, $850 — quint. ‘80s design by Mario Bellini for a small space.
Piero Lissoni Met 250 bench for Cassina, $400, a fine coffee table.
Eight Cesca chairs for $1K, from the ‘70s, a very good deal potentially.
Farmhouse kitchen table, French style, $800 — this thing is just perfect
Tick-shaped chair by Joseph Bissonnette, $1,500 — minimal, ideal, slinky
Berrux Pixl for Roche Bobois bookcase, LA: Really great, newer item that sits between modular Danish dark wood wall systems from the ‘50s and ‘60s (Cado, others) and Kay Leroy Ruggles’ Umbo work… but much newer and so not beholden to either, at least not in these colors. Other Pixls in wood don’t work, I think. Nice thing about this negative space is that it can hide some items. Shouldn’t shelving do that? Some other items from Fabrice Berrux (Frenchman, Gen X) sold before, this never did. Snake Lock of the Week at $1,200
Quick hits:
Salotti lounger, grey, $800, Ill., IHS (fair deal for subtle club chair in Midwest)
Ginori dozen coffee cups and saucers, $50, Ct. (delicate and flawless)
Pierre Cardin necktie, $500, Fl. (Brendan Fraser hair from low dietary fat)
Three Stoppino stackers, red, $200, Pa. (can’t do better than these little hoes)
Bobois loungers, $800, LA (decent get-me-over club chairs)
Springer style Atlantic coffee table, $800, LA (really, really good)
Knoll maple coffee table by HR Kann, $500, St. Paul (fine rare Knoll)
Russell Wright 38 piece salmon service (plates etc), $50, Ct. (huge deal)
Thanks for reading, and buy my hat.
https://snakeusa.bigcartel.com/product/fanclub-hat
https://snakeusa.bigcartel.com/product/fanclub-hat
https://snakeusa.bigcartel.com/product/fanclub-hat
Snake