On Wednesday, November 8, PIASA is organizing three sales dedicated to American design. Comprising 15 lots, the first sale features a complete suite of tapestries produced after Alexander Calder as part of a charity project in the mid-1970s.
The second session (34 lots) focuses on American Arts & Crafts production through two renowned names: Charles P. Limbert (Limbert Furniture Company) and Gustav Stickley (accompanied by his brothers), both of whom were active between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries.
Finally, the last vacation is organized around a catalog of nearly 150 lots, including several emblematic pieces by key figures in the market: George Nakashima, Edward J. Wormley, Isamu Noguchi, Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings, Harry Bertoia...
Lot 51 - Rose Cabat
Feelies - Unique pieces
Estimate: 10000 / 15000€
-After Alexander Calder - 53/100-
This sale of tapestries after Alexander Calder brings together for the first time 14 creations produced as part of a charity project.
Two days before Christmas in 1972, a major earthquake fatally struck Nicaragua and its capital Managua. New York collector Catalina (Kitty) Meyer, who had spent her childhood in Nicaragua, decided to ask artist friends to produce works, the proceeds of which would be donated to the country's reconstruction. Among them, 14 drawings selected from Alexander Calder's production were reproduced in 100 copies each in tapestries - woven and non-woven - by Guatemalan craftsmen. The series was subsequently exhibited and sold through several Manhattan galleries.
What's more, all 14 lots offered for sale today bear the no. 53/100, while a 15th lot, an artist's proof from an earlier production (1961), completes the catalog.
Lot 05 - After Alexander Calder
Turquoise - no. 53/100
Estimate: 15000 / 20000€
-Arts and Crafts - Made in America
This furniture sale highlights two protagonists of the Art & Crafts scene in America in the 1880s: Charles P. Limbert and the Stickley brothers.
Born in 1854, Charles P. Limbert grew up in the Midwest, the epicenter of the American Arts & Crafts movement in the late 19th century. The son of a furniture dealer, he founded his own furniture factory in Grand Rapids, which he moved to Holland
in 1902. Born around the same time (1858), Gustav Stickley came from a modest German immigrant family in Wisconsin. Initially apprenticed to a stonemason, he later discovered woodworking with his uncle, who ran a chair-making workshop. In the 1880s, Stickley, along with his brothers Albert and Charles, founded the Stickley Brothers Company, the first furniture manufacturing company he ever managed. He also worked with his two other brothers, Leopold and John George, before they founded their own factory in 1902, L. & J. G. Stickley. Gustav Stickley's philosophy, principles and work have come down to us through "The Craftsman", which he published as early as 1902, a benchmark magazine for the dissemination of the Arts and Crafts movement in the United States. In keeping with his furniture style, Stickley set out his principles for simple, harmonious and original architecture, in opposition to the standardization brought about by industrial development at the turn of the century.
Lot 96 - Philip Lloyd Powell
Dining table - Unique piece
Estimate: 40000 / 60000€
Like his contemporary, Limbert is also committed to maintaining high quality in the materials and manufacture of his furniture, preferring craftsmanship while making optimal use of the new machines of the time. His furniture uses solid woods such as oak, walnut and cherry for strength and durability, and features clean lines incorporating handcrafted details such as exposed joints, inlays and geometric patterns.
Lot 104 - George Nakashima
Minguren II - Special order
Estimate: 120000 / 250000€