The next auction of 20th-century Decorative Arts and Design will be held on 21 and 22 December 2022 in ViaPitteriDieci, Milan.
On 21 December, a selection of 137 lots of outstanding collecting and art-historical relevance will be offered to the public. Four works of superlative technical quality, one-of-a-kind pieces signed by the artist are the art glass pieces by master Yoichi Ohira, which have belonged to the amazing collection of a Milanese enthusiast since the late 1990s (lots 777, 776, 774, 775).
Murano glass art is also well represented by a number of rare vases by Tomaso Buzzi (lots 740, 739), Carlo Scarpa (lot 736), Vittorio Zecchin, Umberto Bellotto made between the 1920s and the 1950s by the furnaces MVM Cappellin, Venini, Vetreria Artistica Barovier (lots 737, 751, 752, 750).
Lot 777
Yoichi Ohira, vase with slightly cylindrical pumpkin body and truncated cone collar.
Blown glass composed of: two tripartite vertical bands in red glass paste and transparent red glass;
six volute sectors obtained from large "C" alternating murrines, in transparent glass red and lattimo,
with faceted surface at the wheel; black powder and aventurine inserts. Top part in clear, lattimo and red glass engraved.
Edge in black glass paste. Execution by Livio Serena e Giacomo Barbini, Murano, 2003.
Estimate € 12,000 - 14,000
Lot 740
Tomaso Buzzi, blue cased glass vase.
Execution by Venini, Murano, 1932ca.
Estimate € 3,200 - 3,500
Lot 751
Umberto Bellotto, large vase of secessionist taste.
Execution by Artisti Barovier, Murano, 1918ca.
Estimate € 2,200 - 2,500
The famous Pirovano hotel-refuge in Cervinia, built between 1948 and 1952 based on a project by Franco Albini and Gino Colombini, is an icon of Post-war Italian architecture. The successful rediscovery of some original furnishings of the hut, designed by Albini and made by Ezio and Roberto Poggi, opens a section dedicated to the Milanese architect's furniture, including the unique pieces from 1951 for the Pini flat in Milan (lots 765, 764, 769, 767, 768, 766, 763, 762).
Giannino Castiglioni, an internationally renowned sculptor and father of the well-known designers Livio, Pier Giacomo and Achille, designed the furniture for his own living room in the 1920s, with up-to-date Art Deco stylistic features, but already anticipating the atypical experiments that would drive his sons' research in the field of emerging industrial design (lots 719, 720, 721, 723, 724, 725, 726, 727).
Lot 766
Franco Albini, pair of armchairs, prototype of the model "Luisa". Produced by Knoll, Milan, 1949ca.
Estimate € 1,800 - 2,000
Lot 767
Franco Albini, reading armchair. Unique piece, Milan, 1951.
Estimate € 2,800 - 3,000
Lot 722
Giannino Castiglioni, Déco corner cabinet in three asymmetrical parts
with open shelves and central door sector. Milan, 1925ca.
Estimate € 900 - 1,200
Gio Ponti's craftsmanship is evidenced by a remarkable collection of Richard-Ginori ceramics from the 1920s and some furnishings, all documented and certified (lots 760, 761, 759, 756, 758, 757).
Artist's ceramics are the protagonists with Lucio Fontana's Crocifissione, dated 1957-58, a superb expression of the artist's poetics at the end of the 1950s (lot 773, estimate € 25,000 - 35,000), with a sculpture by Fausto Melotti dated 1947 (lot 772), and with a group of informal terracottas from the 1970s by Nanni Valentini, coming all from private collections (lots 745, 747).
Lotto 760
Gio Ponti, "L'architetto", vaso, manifattura Richard Ginori, Doccia (Firenze), 1924ca.
Stima € 10.000 - 12.000
Lot 773
Lucio Fontana, "Crocifissione". Italy, 1957-58.
Estimate € 25,000 - 35,000
Lot 772
Fausto Melotti, "Untitled", polychrome enamel ceramic, 1947.
Estimate € 1,800 - 2,000
Lot 745
Nanni Valentini, white/grey glazed terracotta spherical sculpture. Manufacture of Ceramiche Arcore, Italy, 1972.
Estimate € 2,200 - 2,800
The session proposes to national and international customers some rare pieces that lie on the borderline territory between art and design: the Moloch sculpture lamp by Gaetano Pesce, exemplar number 5 of the first 100 produced by Bracciodiferro in 1970-71, from a private collection in Milan (lot 782, estimate € 50,000 - 60,000); the Snoopy tribute piece of furniture, a unique piece signed and dated, was designed by Ugo la Pietra for the exhibition Il mondo di Snoopy, held in Milan, Rome and Venice in 1992-93 (lot 778, estimate € 10, 000 - 15,000); the bed Helioendimio is a provocative work by Luigi Ontani, realized in 1986 by Mirabili and produced in only 99 pieces (lot 783), while with the Trumeau di fine millennio, piece number 1 of the only 2 produced in 1999, Barnaba Fornasetti celebrates the end of an era and the beginning of a new one, with a symbolic synthesis in balance between tradition and contemporaneity (lot 779, estimate € 18,000 - 20,000).
Lot 782
Gaetano Pesce, "Moloch", floor lamp-sculpture.
Produced by Bracciodiferro, Genoa, 1970-71.
Estimate € 50,000 - 60,000
Lot 778
Ugo La Pietra, "Omaggio a Snoopy", Milan, 1992.
Estimate € 10,000 - 15,000
Lot 783
Luigi Ontani, "Helioendimio", double bed of the series "Arte dell'abitare".
Execution by Mirabili, Florence, 1986ca.
Estimate € 4,500 - 5,000
Lot 779
Barnaba Fornasetti, "Trumeau di fine millennio",
storage cabinet. Milan, 1999.
Estimate € 18,000 - 20,000
Finally, a selection of lighting devices ranging from the 1920s to the 1990s, mostly from a single private collection in Milan: a rare floor lamp by Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte, made of wood, brass and crystal (lot 685), two floor lamps by Fulvio Bianconi for Venini (lot 686), and wall lamps attributed to Carlo Mollino and coming from Casa M in Turin, made between 1944 and 1947 (lot 687).
The two sessions on 22 December are dedicated to furniture, lighting and Italian decorative arts and include many iconic pieces of 20th century Italian design.
Lot 685
Max Ingrand, floor lamp.
Produced by Fontana Arte, Italy, 1955ca.
Estimate € 4,500 - 5,000
Lot 686
Fulvio Bianconi, two floor lamps.
Execution by Venini, Murano, 1951ca.
Estimate € 6,500 - 8,000
Lot 687
Carlo Mollino (attributed), pair of wall lamps.
Turin-Murano, 1944-1947.
Estimate € 6,000 - 8,000