furniture, art & design
Jochen Kirschstein (Germany c20th-now)
Model 29 Chair. 1980s/90s
painted wood & plywood construction.
98.5 x 51 x 87.5cm high
This chair is as close to a sculpture as it is a radical design piece – It is a unique piece, seamlessly blending modern minimalism with artisanal woodwork to create a bold, architectural form. An eye-catcher for any experimental interior.
Price: 2.350 euro
Art Deco stool
A 1930s Art Deco vanity stool. Unknown origin. (unrestored)
Mahogany and maple wood veneers around a wooden constructed base.
We have left the period linen upholstery – A possible upholstery project or just left as it is.
Price: 1.250 euro
Sido and François Thévenin (France mid-c20th)
metal & buffalo leather side chair. Stamped. 1970s/80s.
An elegant sculptural side chair made by the famous French duo known for working across a range of specialisms including architecture, sculpture and furniture design. Like many imaginative artist/designers who came to the fore in the 1980s, their work combines elements of Postmodernism to create a narrative object : Gothic, baroque and brutalism combined in a theatrical narrative. This 1970s-80s art-chair would look fabulous in any stylish interior. It has the maker’s brandished marks to the back of the leather seat.
Born on the French Riviera in 1931, François Thévenin’s output oscillates between architecture, sculpture, design and poetry using his favourite material, metal. Trained at the Beaux-Arts in Paris in the 1950s, he met his future wife and partner Gisèle Sidoti, known as Sido (1934-86). In 1958, after his military service, François and Sido moved to the south, to Cannes-la-Bocca, where their house-workshop is still located.
Price: 3,200 euro
Jean Nouvel (Fr. 1945- now)
‘Less’ Table. Molteni / France. 1990s
Steel plate. 190 x 90 x 72.5 cm high
A rare first steel edition of the ‘Less’ table by Jean Nouvel (later editions were in aluminium and lighter). The table was originally designed for Foundation Cartier office in Paris.
The top has a distinctive sunken underside, not seen when viewed from above – the result is the illusion of a wafer thin top supported by four thin legs.
Original lacquered surface in anthracite metallic grey/silver colour. In good condition – some minor scratches. The legs can be unscrewed from the top.
Price: 2,750 euro
Philippe Starck (Fr. 1949-now)
Rare ‘easylight’ Electrorama, Circa 1980.
Floor-neon lamp. Designed around 1977, the edition was for Starck Product or Electrorama circa 1980. Stamped ‘Starck Product’.
Makrolon, polyurethane and fluorescent tube H: 142 cm. (56 inches); D: 6,7cm.(2 3/8in.). The lamp has an inbuilt mercury tilt switch (the lamp lights up when its position is slightly altered)
This lamp was most likely purchased in the Netherlands at De Bijenkorf, circa 1980. Bibliography: J.-F. Grunfeld, M.-L. Jousset, Lumières Je Pense à Vous, exhibition catalog, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, June 3-August 5, 1985, p. 158, n. 282 C. Colin, Starck, Ed Pierre Mardaga, Liège, 1988, p. 274, 278, 296
Price: 5.800 euro
Martin Visser (Nl. 1922-2009)
Enamelled steel and aluminium. 244 x 85 x 75cm
’t Spectrum Bergeyk 1988. Model TE20. Aluminium and lacquered steel.
Rare modernist table designed by Martin Visser and Joke van der Heyden. This particular table appears to come from a small test series (or one of a series of prototypes whereby Visser was still experimenting with the design – there are some quite primitive connections and test holes where you can see Visser grappling with the design).
These first tables have a slightly different build than the later production tables; they do not have the rubber connections between the top and leg structures that the later tables had – Instead the illusion of the top floating above the base is created by incorporating a slight gap between the top and base sections. The same illusion is created at the base of the legs where a single rubber beyond view creates the illusion of the whole table floating slightly above the floor.
The booklet entitled ‘Martin Visser, collected work‘ contains a full description of the creation of the TE20.
Price: 7,650 euro
[merzbau] 