Park table

Details

ETTORE SOTTSASS (B. 1917)
Park table
designed 1983, very limited production by Memphis, the circular polished granite base with corresponding glass top, supported on four stylised architectural elements of marble, lacquered fibreglass and polished aluminium
51¼ x 16½in. (130 x 42cm.)

Literature

B. Radice, Memphis: Research, Experiences, Results, Failures and Successes of New Design, London, 1985, (p. 176, designer's drawing for this table is 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

Memphis was co-founded by Ettore Sottsass in Milan in 1981, with the aim of re-invigorating the Radical Design movement that had proliferated during the early 1970s. Seeking inspiration from a myriad of sources that included Art Deco and 1950s Kitsch, the members of the collaborative intentionally mocked the pretensions of "Good Design". Frequently selecting materials for their perceived lack of culture, the youthful vitality and humour of the group was central to the internationalisation of Post-Modernism. The abstracted architectural shapes that form the movable supports of the glass surface allude to, as the title suggests, New York's Central Park.

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