The upcoming Decorative Arts of the 20th century and Design sale, which will take place on 3, 4 and 5 July 2024, divided into four sessions for a total of 594 lots, will be significantly rich in quality and variety.
On July 3rd, a first session with a selection of 145 lots of significant collectible and historical-artistic importance. The work The Annunciation stands out for its international importance, a panel in beaten aluminium by Margaret Macdonald (1864-1933), a Scottish artist, member of The Four from Glasgow and wife of the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh. She was among the pioneers of Art Nouveau and international diffusion of the Modern Style.
Macdonald created the panel in 1896 and exhibited it in several international exhibitions of the Arts and Craft movement in London, Glasgow, Liverpool and at the III Venice Biennale in 1899, where it was acquired by the painter Ettore De Maria Bergler, who was involved in the decoration of the Teatro Massimo and the villa Igiea in Palermo at the time. Considered lost by scholars, it was recently found in a private Italian collection and will be offered for sale at the end of the first auction session (lot 145, €20,000 - 30,000).
Lot 145
Margaret Macdonald,
"The Annunciation", Glasgow, 1896.
Lightly embossed and gilded aluminium plate panel, with insertion of emerald green and ruby red coloured stones.
Mounted on original wooden frame. Signed and dated on the bottom left. Coeval paper label on the back. (24.5x114.5; frame cm 45x142.5).
Estimate € 20,000 - 30,000
Among the numerous lots in the catalogue we highlight: a collection of objects by Gabriella Crespi, including the rare “Salice” lamp from the late 1960s (lot 9, €8,000 - 9,000); a group of furnishings, unique pieces, designed in 1940 and in the 1960s by Luigi Zuccoli, an architect from Como and associate of Giuseppe Terragni (lot 38, € 650 - 700 - lot 45, € 850 - 900); a series of furniture from the 1930s designed by Piero Portaluppi (lot 35, € 1,600 - lot 37, € 3,000 - 4,000); a coffee table by Osvaldo Borsani and Lucio Fontana, with informal decoration signed by the painter (lot 49, €17,000 - 20,000); several furnishings by Ico Parisi, including a pair of chairs and a magazine rack in chestnut wood, which until now have remained unreleased on the collectors' market, and originally published by the magazine «Stile» in 1946, together with a pair of rare “839” armchairs for Cassina (lot 63, € 4,500 - 5,000 - lot 64, € 1,700 - 1,800 - lot 65, € 11,000 - 12,000).
Lot 9
Table lamp model "Salice". 1968ca.
Light device consisting of plexiglass filaments, nickel-plated brass base.
Signed by incussion at the base. (h 69 cm.; d 38.5 cm.)
Estimate € 8,000 - 9,000
Lot 37
Piero Portaluppi (attr.),
Art Déco sofa. 1930s.
Walnut frame edged and veneered in briar and dark wood, perforated back with geometric decorations. (173x75x66 cm.)
Estimate € 3,000 - 4,000
Lot 49
Osvaldo Borsani and Lucio Fontana,
three-legged coffee table with triangular top with rounded edges, hand-decorated with pictorial composition by Lucio Fontana.
Arredamenti Borsani, Varedo, 1953-55.
Solid wood, glass, mixed media on glass. Painterly composition bearing the autographed signature of Lucio Fontana. (99x40x101 cm.)
Estimate € 17,000 - 20,000
Lot 65
Ico Parisi,
pair of armchairs model "839". Produced by Cassina, Meda, 1955.
Painted steel, brass, curved plywood and crème velvet upholstery. (69x76x66 cm.)
Estimate € 11,000 - 12,000
Ernesto Michahelles, known as Thayaht, in 1922 designed an imaginative mirror with a flamboyant geometric profile for the Macy's department store in New York. The prototype, which remained a unique example, was exhibited at the III Monza Biennale in 1927 (lot 70, €10,000 - 15,000).
Roberto Menghi called Fausto Melotti to his side to cover the fireplace hood of Casa Fiaccadori in Milan, designed in 1954, with luminous metallic luster ceramics. The hood, now decontextualized, enjoys an undoubted artistic autonomy, as a sculptural object in its own right (lot 71, €16,000 - 18,000).
Lot 70
Ernesto Michahelles (Thayaht),
mirror with lacquered and gilded wood frame with geometric patterns. 1922. Unique prototype for Macy's New York, US. (105.5x46.5 cm.)
Estimate € 10,000 - 15,000
Lot 71
Fausto Melotti and Roberto Menghi, conical-shaped chimney hood. 1953-54.
Cement and iron cage frame, plastered on the inside with refractory mortars and covered on the outside with luster majolica elements modelled by Melotti.
The elements are different from each other, both in shape and decoration, so as to envelop the cone. (cm 114x156x79)
Estimate € 16,000 - 18,000
The provocative genius of Luigi Ontani is present with the allusive work “Pio Tempio d'Empio Tempo”, alongside works by Giulio Radi, Dino Martens, Ercole Barovier, Gio Ponti, Aldo Rossi, Carlo Scarpa, Vittorio Zecchin, Gaetano Pesce, Franco Albini, Ettore Sottsass, Mario Ceroli, and a small collection of lamps by Max Ingrand and FontanaArte, including a “Dhalia” chandelier with sixteen arms and a “2044” mirror with crystal gems (lot 87, €11,000 - 12,000 - lot 88, €16,000 - 18,000), all from private collections.
Lastly, the "glass" section could not be missing with the works of contemporary artists who have learned the techniques of Murano art glass by creating unique signed pieces (lot 105, € 3,500 - 4,000 - lot 111, € 6,500 - 7,000): two vases by Yoichi Ohira, three vases by Ritsue Mishima and one very rare by Dale Chihuly.
Lot 87
Max Ingrand,
sixteen-lights chandelier model "1563 A Dhalia".
Produced by Fontana Arte, Milan, 1950s. Brass frame, metal and aluminium, bevelled transparent amber crystals. (h 50 cm.; d 127 cm.)
Estimate € 11,000 - 12,000
Lot 118
Gaetano Pesce,
table of the series "Nobody’s perfect". Produced by Zerodisegno, 2002.
Polychrome resin. Bearing the inscription "31.08.02 Alvaro" and the serial number 055 on the top. (192x72x92 cm.)
Estimate € 6,500 - 7,000
Lot 109
Ritsue Mishima,
vase of the series "Moon". Murano, 2010. Satin blown crystal glass on outer surface. (h 35 cm.)
Estimate € 7,000 - 8,000
Lot 111
Dale Chihuly,
large sculpture vase of irregular shape, attributable to the 'Soft Cylinders' series. Usa, 1996.
Crystal and matt yellow blown glass with dark amethyst and lattimo glass filaments and murrine.
Signed and dated with engraving under the base. (37.5x42.5 cm.)
Estimate € 6,500 - 7,000