VIENNA.- Outstanding pieces from design history will be on sale in
Dorotheum’s upcoming design auction on 15 March 2018. The auction highlight is a table designed in 1963 by the Italian sculptor Giacomo Manzù, for his home in Bergamo, which until now has been privately owned. The crystal glass top is supported by a frame in the form of a sweeping branch. It is made of a bronze, gold and silver alloy developed by Manzù himself, which gives the surface a shimmering golden tone. This material was used by the artist on the Porta della Morte on St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and for the portrait of Pope Johannes XXIII. The estimate for this unique piece is €220,000–280,000.
A comparable contemporary table sculpture comes from David Adjaye, one of today’s architectural pioneers. His Bronze Sniper dining table is cast from a single piece with three wide feet. The piece of furniture created by Sawaya & Moroni is number 1 of 10 limited edition pieces (€190,000–250,000).
A table and three high chairs by American architect and installation artist, Vito Acconci, who passed away last year, will also be for auction. The artist designed Mur Island, a spectacular floating platform on the River Mur in Graz, as part of the 2003 European Capital of Culture Year. It has since become a modern landmark in the city. He was also responsible for designing the island’s interior. With an estimated value of €15,000–25,000, a stainless-steel seating group from the island’s café "Vito" which formally corresponds to the flowing movement of water, is now looking for a new home.
The one and only
Zaha Hadid has several works on display, including a rare tea and coffee service from 1997, made of sterling silver with 22 karat gold plating (no. 1 of 10, est. €140,000–180,000). As well as a preparatory Tippy seat object with a metallic-finish surface, designed in 2011, a unique piece (€ 150,000–180,000). Hadid's Snow Drift seat from 2006 is also for sale. Its flowing shape allows for a variety of seating positions and it is number 1 of 24 limited edition pieces (€ 30,000–40,000).
Design icon Ron Arad
Ron Arad's 1994 armchair Box in Four Movements in polished aluminium, produced by Ron Arad Associates in 2007, is valued at €85,000–110,000.
His I.P.C.O.-Smartie-hanging lamp designed in 2001 for The Gallery Mourmans Maastricht is also on offer. It is one of 50 limited edition copies and projects a "wall paper" light pattern through many small holes onto the surrounding room (€20,000–28,000).
The early days of modern design are represented in the auction by a mirror by Dagobert Peche. He designed this rare large wall mirror for the Wiener Werkstätte in 1922 (€130,000–180,000). Similarly, timeless modernity is reflected in a pair of display cases by Emile Jacques Ruhlmann (1925/27, €110,000– 150,000).
One piece which incorporates jewellery, art and sculpture and leads us into the ultra-modern swinging sixties is an 18 karat, gold necklace with quartz and tourmaline, designed in 1967 by the Italian artist Ettore Sottsass (€26,000–35,000). The circular necklace is number 6 of 10 limited edition pieces. It was created by Milanese goldsmith Gian Carlo Montebello, who also made designs by Lucio Fontana, Piero Dorazio and Sonja Delaunay.
