Snake Auction Observer 038
Mucho Sottsass, Colombo, Aalto, and a mysterious new Finnish designer
Snake Auction Observer: good furniture, undervalued, or eternal, all selected off LiveAuctioneers.com. This week—much Sottsass, Aalto, Colombo, and a few Canadian auctions. Immediate auctions at the top, and quick hits at the bottom…
Auctions:
Gismondi floor lamp, Canada: Simple, harsh, industrial flood lamp (model is Sintesi Terra, enamel steel and aluminum, the original ones, from 1975, came with a Cornalux lightbulb) by Ernesto Gismondi. One of the very great Artemide lamps from that era, or from any, a construction flood light done better. Available new in one way or another, retros are very good also. This one’s a bit older. Gismondi himself founded Artemide, lots of the lamps he’s done have a column thing going on with them—Ilio, Nuda, Chilone, Metacolor are all totems… though the totem image may not need a re-doing. Sistensis sell for nothing on LA, but most of them have been overseas. Originals go for more. House (Canadian) has the good van der Rohe recliner, some very, very boring standard MCM pieces, some great Italian metal work, a couple duds from Starck and a wild Jorge Zalszupin coffee table. $200(Cdn)
Sottsass Survetta bookcase, Florida, In-house shipping: Laminate wood (dried timber bonded with glue) with what looks like Sottsass’ own bacterio pattern, or the other one that looks like it whose name I don’t remember, on the columns… less renowned than the Carlton (which all have seen), and is slightly more practical for book storage. All giving legs to my theory that the design sphere and literature sphere don’t really overlap… or if they do, they do in a sad way. Still. Made in 1981, same year as the Carlton. Only one has sold domestic, about $9,000 before the pandemic—this one is the Snake Lock of the Week; house has some nice China. $3,750
Mangiarotti Inca console table for Skipper, Fl., IHS: The old idea, Greek or Egyptian probably, is that a three-legged chair is the sturdiest one because its legs all sit on the same geometric plane, so there won’t be any wobbling. I’ve never seen a table with three legs, though in many restaurants they often wabble. Angelo (good name) Mangiarotti solves the problem here… he also designed similar tables with four legs, and others with two… the planar idea is not something he believed in, but is just something he did. Tables were for Skipper, who in the ‘60s did a lot of Nordic work. Angelo’s otherwise best item is an ashtray for Knoll. The Inca, from ‘78, is stone and marble, and predates/is close to harsh luxe ‘80s furniture (Goodfellas gf) that seems to be on the way out. As always, dining tables, no matter how many legs, are hard to run by and very very expensive, either retail or auction, and very boring—retail. This one’s 86” long, about the same as a very big couch. Previous Incas have run 5-6 large; many more are overseas. Could be a nice deal at $1,300
Asko Finland chairs, Montreal: Scant info on these from a Montreal auction heavy on silver tableware and turquoise jewelry, but the fancy kind. Asko is Finnish, and over a century old, with a clean break between wood Nordic furniture and pure plastic that began in the ‘60s: Eero Arnio’s Ball chair, a gem… Arne Jacobsen’s Pre Pop dining set (classic), and this Pony chair:
Wild. And the Pastil chair. Not bad. Not sure who designed these chairs; nothing with any info in any of the usual spaces. They recall Yrjö Kukkapuro and slot in between low-vibration French furniture from the ‘60s and the tastier Italian stuff. No price on these, obviously; house is in Canada, which is where I grew up, but no longer live. $100(CDN)
Sottsass for Alessi condiment set, NYC, $20 shipping: Lots of Sottsass today, rare to have an auction week with so much ending that’s so good. The master works for Alessi, who deal in utensils and housewares. Lots of good Alessi items remain everywhere, some are still very good; retail, through them, is expensive but pieces are well made and still beautiful. I suggest their “Dry” flatware set. This Sottsass set, the 5070 is also available new through them but where’s the fun in that? Not as avant or revolutionary a design as some of Sottsass’ work—check out the ES16 through 20 on Alessi’s site, which are salt shakers, etc. closer to his sculptures—this one at least takes a stand about condimentation. Oil and vinegar with salt, pepper. When I moved to New York it took me a year at least to get used to McDonald’s not having vinegar as a condiment for fries. I’ve adapted, but it is still hell living without it. These things go for nothing on LA, well below retail—a couple even ended this year for $50. $100
Minimal postmodern tubular desk lamp, NYC, $40 shipping: Not much information on this one; I looked through past auctions and found scant information. A friend who follows furniture auctions reached out to me about this lamp:
Which I am quoting above. Readers can see the Abele lamp here:
He’s right. The Abele is longer, more technical, more elegant. The other one very much has a Wolfenstein 3D aesthetic. Shapes like this don’t exist in the real world, they get dreamed up by furniture designers who visualize reality completely apart from the one most of us live in. Local auction, clearly demarcated shipping costs, many hits, including a couple above, a set of Vignelli for Heller in good colors (albeit pricy), lots of colorful kitchen timers (?), Michael Graves, good, postmodern clocks. Crazy how wise some readers are. $200
Sottsass coffee set for Lagostina, NYC, $60 shipping: Wild but practical tea set by Sottsass that has a Moka pot equivalent for strong stovetop coffee, plus milk and sugar. Perhaps the most Italian item ever designed. The colors here are on a singular plane; there is nothing else out there with an identical color in furniture or interior design, or in the world of accessories, or in the natural world. This set is the Texas Longhorns orange (#BF5700) of the design universe: hideous, but comforting, and belonging to only one thing. (The green Honda Del Sol does not count because Hamas uses the same shade.) These types of accents and pieces… only work as accents. Don’t go overboard here and make everything in your place this loud. But still very fun. This set has been up a couple times, but by a different auctioneer, and has never sold; a black one ran about $550. From Lagostina’s Accademia line, which is still around in a much less radical iteration. (You can buy silver Accademia sauté pans on Amazon.) In Paris last week I went to a well-regarded coffee shop and bakery for a coffee and scone (scone was good). They didn’t have any sugar—they said (in French) we don’t carry it. In what demented universe are people expected to drink French coffee without sugar? Or for a bakery to sequester their sugar to just back of the house? This was my punishment for breaking my long-standing Paris rule to not frequent any establishment where the managerial staff or ownership is wearing some sort of limited Nike. I should have known better—and I am glad it didn’t work out. $1,000
Joe Colombo Roto ashtray for Kartell, NYC, $20 shipping: Tailing off as a temporal pair with Colombo Smoke glasses mentioned last week are these ashtrays, which twist around and are plastic. Colombo designed them in 1970 and they were released in ‘73, quite a lag—Born to Expire, Andrei Rublev—for the productive designer. You put the cig (or carrot) into the little teeth and let it rest, and twist it when you’re done with the ashes. Then maybe it clips it off? I don’t know how mechanical ashtrays work, I don’t smoke cigarettes. I’d let people smoke indoors in my apartment if I had one of those huge fondue restaurant fans in my ceiling—or I would install a fan into the Martinelli Luce chandelier (in Quick Hits below) for the same effect. One friend of mine drilled a plastic cone into their Trudon tobacco candle and when guests are over, asks them to exhale their smoke into the cone, which then goes into the candle. The net effect is that nobody’s jeans smell like cigs and the candle lasts longer. The only problem is some guests experience a slight burning sensation in their foreheads when they blow into the lit candle. These haven’t sold on LA; the bright side of buying a used ashtray is it was probably owned by Bruce Willis. $200
Quick Hits:
Six Bertoia wirework chairs, no cushions, $600CAD, Toronto (cheap)
Memphis-style angular table, $200, Fl., IHS (beautiful, good for dentists)
Two Alvar Aalto Iittalia vases, $80CAD, Montreal (very good deal)
Fratelli Saporiti coffee table with insane base, $200, Italy IHS (demonic)
Zanini’s 'Luctretia chair with Sottsass fabric, $550(+150 shipping) NYC (named after a Sisters of Mercy song)
Rodolfo Bonetto for Bilumen magazine racks, $300(+$40), NYC (aces)
Castelli Ferrieri 4870 chair for Kartell, $200(+$75), NYC (pitch perfect)
Martinelli Luce stainless steel chandelier, $700(+$350), Italy (ape S. Hitt)
Offredi Wave sofa for Saporiti, big, $800, Hudson NY (mega deal)
Thanks for reading.
Snake