A TARTAR TABLE

Details

Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano, designed 1985
A TARTAR TABLE
Laminated wood
76 cm. high x 87 cm. wide x 85 cm. deep
Labelled Memphis Milano E. Sottsass 1985 Made in Italy

Special notice

Christie's charge a premium to the buyer on the final bid price of each lot sold at the following rates: 23.8% of the final bid price of each lot sold up to and including €150,000 and 14.28% of any amount in excess of €150,000. Buyers' premium is calculated on the basis of each lot individually.

Lot Essay

Ettore Sottsass (B. 1917) exerted an enormous influence on the Post-Modernism movement and on design in the 1970s and 1980s. The present lot is considered to be one of his best pieces. Wildly exuberant in color and throbbing with multiple patterns, the table was one of Sottsass' first three-dimensional designs for the Italian manufacturer, Memphis. A child of Modernism --born in 1917--Sottsass became an early and articulate critic of the less-is-more school. Whether doing this through the playful crimson typewriters and yellow secretary's chairs he created for Italian manufacturer, Olivetti, or via his kitschy pop-inspired contributions to Memphis, Sottsass helped put the fun back into design.

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