As a prelude to the American and Brazilian design auction on Thursday, June 10th, PIASA is organizing a sale of decorative objects in which ceramics is the predominant material.
Drawing inspiration from Bauhaus and Scandinavian design aesthetics, designers Jane and Gordon Martz created uniquely modern decorative objects for Marshall Studios in the early 1950s. Following their studies in ceramics, the couple moved to Veedursburg, Indiana, where they revitalized Jane's family business of hand-turned wood lamps and hand-painted shades. There they created high-quality ceramic lamps using a unique process that combined slip-cast forms with hand-applied glazes or incised decoration. This technique was noticed by Edgar Kauffman Jr, director of the industrial design department at MOMA, who invited them to present their minimalist lamp "Black Teardrop" (model #101) at the Good Design exhibition in 1953.
Jane & Gordon Martz (20th c.)
Coffee Table
Estimate : 3 500 - 4 500 €
Design Technics was one of the most influential American manufacturers of the post-war period, known for its lamps and art objects. Founded in the early 1940s by husband and wife team Samuel and Lee Rosen as a studio and craft school in New York's Greenwich Village, Design Technics later moved to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, where the couple expanded their business by producing facades, decorative tiles and other ceramic objects. Lee Rosen would make his mark by incorporating hand-cast and slipware objects, including bold sculptures and sgraffito patterns, that would take Design Technics' output beyond the purely functional.
Jane & Gordon Martz (20th c.)
Pair of table lamps
Estimate : 3 500 - 4 500 €
Jane & Gordon Martz (20th c.)
Pair of table lamps
Estimate : 3 000 - 4 000 €
