Pratt chair

Details

GAETANO PESCE (B. 1931)
Pratt chair
from a limited series of nine variations each executed 1983-1984 in nine examples, variously-tinted supple urethane resin, variable density, hand-moulded, the semi-translucent form ornamented with demon face to back, impressed hand imprint to top-rail, and various other symbols
moulded mark "New York 1984"
35¼ x 19½ x 20¾in. (89.5 x 49 x 52.5cm.)

Literature

Albrecht Bangert, Italian Furniture Design: Ideas, Styles, Movements, Munich, 1988, (p. 92, similar example ilustrated)
Ex. cat., Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou, Gaetano Pesce: Le Temps des Questions, July-October 1996 (pp. 82/83, similar examples illustrated).

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

The supple and translucent properties of urethane resin are manipulated with this experimental series that was executed in conjunction with students from the Pratt Institue of New York. Despite its readily identifiable form, the flexible nature of its substance prohibits the design from functioning as a useable product. The surface of the the chair is further ornamented with series of moulded and impressed motifs, symbols and devices suggestive of a labyrinthine and impenetrable narrative.

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