Design

There are various extraordinary and very nice sitting accommodations among the 500 lots of the auction taking place on June 28. The rare lounge chair by Norwegian Lars Hjelle is a typical example of the Scandinavian Design of the 1950s. It will be called up around €4,000 – 5,000. Kaare Klint's lawn chair from 1933 will be on offer for €4,000 – 5,000 as well. Klint, who is held as founding father of Danish Design influenced the following generations with his functionalism based on the principles of mathematics. Hans J. Wegner, present with some lots, is one of them. Alvar Aalto's white and black armchairs make a nice pair (estimate €2,000 – 3,000). A pair of white 'Cognac' easy chairs with black covers by Eero Aarnio are among the classics of Finnish Design. Aarnio created some icons, like his 'Bubble' and 'Ball' chairs from the 1960s, organic shapes made of plastic and Fiberglas. They are hailed as expression of Pop culture in many a museum. Four red leather covered 'Saturnus' easy chairs and a table by Yrjö Kukkapuro from 1965 are as trendy, they can be purchased for €2,500 – 3,000. Moreover: eleven 'Pantonova-100' elements (five narrow and six broad elements) with a nice red fabric cover, designed by Verner Panton for the Restaurant Varna in Arhus in 1971 (estimate €6,000 – 7,000). The unicum 'Pratt' chair by Gaetano Pesce, made of polyurethane, is on offer for €9,000 – 12,000. The chair could be purchased in nine different kinds of material strength: from '1' (very soft) to '9' (very hard). The one on offer is a '7'. Lighting enthusiasts will certainly find something. Quittenbaum presents designs by Alvar Aalto, Paavo Tynell, Poul Henningsen and for example, Gio Ponti's floor lamp for the 'Parco dei Principi' Hotel (1964, €6,000 – 8,000). A highlight among the lighting design is Ugo La Pietra's 'Globo tissurato' light, created by the artist in the beginning of the 1960s. Back then he was part of the circle around his colleagues Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni and Enrico Castellani and formulated his questions about the concurrence of all genres – Drawing, Painting, Architecture, Design, Film and public Installations. An exceptional large choice of furniture and implements by Fornasetti adds to the Italian Design – end tables and a collection of rectangular and round trays in early execution. George Nelson is present with a 'Miniature Chest' (€2,000 – 2,500) and a 'Gate Leg Table' – 'No. 4656' for Herman Miller (1946, €2,000 – 2,200). Moreover, classics by Charlotte Perriand, Achille Castiglioni, Osvaldo Borsani, Mario Bellini e.a. will be called up.  

With a total revenue of almost EUR 300,000, the second day of this year's June auction came to a solid conclusion.

From 1900 to 2012, Germany, Italy, France, Scandinavia, USA – this year Quittenbaum created another extensive selection of international design. Shortly after of the auction began a few designs from the early 20th century were requested. The armchair 'Calvet' designed by Antonio Gaudí started at EUR 2,000. In the end due to the interest of multiple bidders, the nutwood-chair sold to a German customer for more than EUR 3,700. The start price of Eileen Gray's Sofa 'Monte Carlo' also quickly double. The elegant combination of chrome and black leather earned more than EUR 2,000.

The five different groups of colorful lanterns from Hans-Agne Jakobsson in different forms and colors were all presented during the auction. Each group was sold for double or even triple its estimated price. Bidders desired many objects from the chapter Scandinavian Design. Eleven 'pantonova – 100' elements from Verner Panton were sold for over EUR 11,000 and the start price of the six folding chairs 'MK 16' from Morgan Koch tripled for almost EUR 4,000.

A highlight of the auction was the 'Wandgarderobe 1' from Karl Auböck. After an exciting exchange of bids, a Swiss collector won the small piece of furniture for EUR 9,600. A huge surprise came from sell of the 1950s small Italian bar with two stools, which was valued from EUR 900 to 1,100. The design of bamboo and wickerwork, that evokes a warm summer night, appealed to multiple bidders. After a long bidding competition, the price rose to almost EUR 14.000 – far more than ten times its estimated value!

In general many objects of Italian design drew the attention of bidders. The green bar cabinet from Aldo Tura, that looks simple from the outside, but is elaboratly designed inside, was sold for EUR 6,000. Oscar Toriasco's unique ceiling lamp '551' reached over EUR 3,800. Bidders enjoyed the large selection of object from Piero and Barnaba Fornasetti. More than two thirds of the objects were bought, most of which over their estimated price.

Find some more rare and unique pieces in our post auction sale that continues until July 21.