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This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal.… Read more

“I have stripped wood into thin layers, manipulating and reconstructing them into free form compositions. I then shape through these layers to reveal not only the honesty of the structure but the sculpted form which is a unique collaboration of man and material. The title derives from the Latin words Enigma ('mystery') and Lignum ('wood'), for me they sum up the series: the mystery of the composition lies in the material.” Joseph WalshPROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE IRISH COLLECTION

JOSEPH WALSH (B. 1979)

A unique set of ten ‘Enignum I’ chairs, 2008

Details

JOSEPH WALSH (B. 1979)
A unique set of ten ‘Enignum I’ chairs, 2008
produced by Joseph Walsh Studio, Cork, Ireland, including two armchairs, stack-laminated ash
each chair 46 ½ high x 21 wide x 27 ½ in. deep (118 x 53.5 x 70 cm.)
each armchair 46 ½ high x 23 wide x 28 in. deep (118 x 58.5 x 71 cm.)

Literature

Other examples of the chair illustrated:
D. Devine, 'Against the Grain', Modern Magazine, Summer 2011, p. 43;
'Interesting curved lines, Joseph's Walsh design', id + C China, no. 99, March 2011, n.p.;
R. Spence, 'Going with the Grain, Joseph Walsh in conversation with Rachel Spence', Financial Times, 28 September 2013, n.p.

Special notice

This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

Lot Essay

Joseph Walsh is acknowledged as one of the world’s leading contemporary designers working with wood. Entirely self-taught, he set up his studio in 1999 and today it brings together over twenty international master craftsmen to produce Joseph’s advanced creations. Fascinated by the endless possibilities of wood, its inherent tactility and strength, and fusing a demand for the highest standard of handcraft with the use of the latest technological advances to bring his designs into a reality, his work seamlessly shifts between art, sculpture and design.

The current set of chairs were the first examples of this model ever made, and also feature subtle design variances which did not follow when the chair was first announced in 2009. Handmade to the highest standards, only 24 side chairs have been produced since that date. The rarity of the present lot is further underlined by the pair of armchairs, which are two of only three ever executed.

A variant suite of ebonised chairs from the Enignum series is in the Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth House. Further works by Joseph Walsh can be found in the Permanent Collections of the Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York.

Christie's would like to thank Lucile Bornand from the Joseph Walsh studio for her assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.

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