Italian Design

Fitting the blossoming spring season, we will present many fresh designs in our auction 'Italian Design' on March 14, 2023.

With that in mind, the offer includes a wide selection of around 100 high-quality lighting designs - from design classics to exceptional one-off pieces. Among them, you will find the rare table light 'Arkab' by Alessandro Mendini for Venini & C. (€ 8.000-9.000) and a timeless Italian floor lamp from the 1960s designed by Gio Ponti for the hotel 'Parco dei Principi' (€ 5.000-6.000). For exceptional lighting, see Andrea Bellosi's 'Arc en ciel' (€ 2.000-2.500). With the help of a prism, this table light projects a wonderful rainbow onto the wall of your room. The range of luminaire designs is completed by important designers such as Alessandro Mendini, Michele De Lucchi and Gae Aulenti.

Under the slogan 'Plastic fantastic', we will take you on a colorful journey through the history of Italian product design, starting in the bright and vibrant 1960s. Here you have the opportunity to discover plastic as a material from numerous angles and in an exciting wealth of shapes and colors. The seating object 'Superonda' by Gruppo Archizoom (€ 3.000-4.000) offers you the opportunity to relax in the curved wave forms, while the famous pill lights 'Pillola' by Cesare Casati and Emanuele Ponzio (€ 7.000-8.000) provide the appropriate ambience. The range of possibilities offered by plastic as a material is highlighted by a selection of vase objects by Gaetano Pesce. Here, several colors merge into artistic abstract compositions.

One name that should not be left out when talking about great Italian design of the 20th century is undoubtedly Ettore Sottsass. In our spring auction, his work is extensively represented. The offer ranges from the mirror 'Ultrafragola' (€ 7.500-8.000), which floods the room in soft pink, to the color-matching side table 'Mimosa' from 1984 (€ 1.800-2.200) and his famous vase designs for Bitossi. An absolute highlight in this context is the sideboard 'Freemont' (€ 11.000-12.000), which is an eye-catcher in any room thanks to its bright colors and characteristic veinings on laminate.

The entire offer includes a wide range of unique furniture, lighting and decorative objects from around 80 years of Italian design history. Either way, the auction brings you a little piece of 'Dolce Vita'.

All objects can be viewed during the preview from March 9 to 13 in our showroom.

Italian design remains popular among collectors and connoisseurs.

We experienced exciting bidding battles, especially for the design objects by Milanese company Danese. Here the prices doubled and tripled, as, for example, for the object 'Deformazione ottico-dinamica' (estimate 2,000 - 2,500€) that was knocked down for 4,000€. For the very rare fruit bowl by Enzo Mari (estimate 400 - 500€) the price increased tenfold and the hammer fell only at 3.900€.

Furniture by Osvaldo Borsani was also appreciated, both of the armchair designs on offer found new owners each for their reserve price. Thus, the two white armchairs 'Canada' went to a US private collection for the estimated 9,000€, while the armchair 'P 40‘ will go back to Italy for 1,900€.

The furniture from the 'Plastic Fantastic‘ chapter was actively bid. The bright green of the 'Dodona‘ shelf had probably attracted several bidders, as a result, the new owner could secure the shelf only at 1,600€. Such iconic design objects as the 'Ultrafragola‘ mirror (hammer price 7,000€), the seating object 'Superonda' (hammer price 2,900€) as well as the shelving system 'Brick' (hammer price 2,700€) did not pass unheeded.

All unsold lots will be offered in the post-auction sale until April 14.