MIRRORED WALL

Details

EDINA ALTARA; ITALY
MIRRORED WALL
1950, comprising of five hand-painted, reverse-decorated and scorched mirror-glass panels, one applied to a door, and two corresponding un-painted panels
door-mounted panel 79¼ in. (201.5 cm.) x 23¼ in. (59 cm.); 49½ in. (126 cm.) x 34¼ in. (87 cm.); 49¾ in. (126.5 cm.) x 34¼ in. (87 cm.); 49½ in. (126 cm.) x 34 (86.5 cm.); 49½ in. (126 cm.) x 11 1/3 in. (29 cm.); unpainted panel 79½ in. (202 cm.) x 3 1/3 in. (8.5 cm.) (7)

Literature

Domus 256, 1951, p.28 (illustrated in-situ)
Ugo La Pietra, Gio Ponti, New York, 1995, p.170, pl.356; p216 (related designs illustrated)
Christie's London, British and Continental Decorative Arts from 1850 to the Present Day, 12 May 1999, lot 475 (chest designed by Gio Ponti for the 1951 Milan Triennale, decorated by Edina Altara)

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Ponti's interiors of the early 1950s were notable for the collaborative involvement of skilled artists, to include the enamel work of Paolo de Poli (lot 2), and the elaborate trompe l'oeil effects perfected by Piero Fornasetti (lots 13, 16). Edina Altara had worked with Ponti since the late 1930s, her distinctive reverse-decorated and scorched-glass panels being used to decorative effect on several furniture items exhibited at the Triennales, the interior for the Lucano apartment, Milan 1951, and the interior of the luxury ocean liner 'Conte Biancamano', 1950.

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