About Sam Kaufman Gallery
Sam Kaufman has been selling fine and idiosyncratic 20th-century objects since he opened his Los Angeles store, back in the 20th century. The collection defies easy categorization, but every piece meets three criteria Sam personally values in applied art: playfulness, craftsmanship, and historical significance. The core of the gallery's collection is ceramics and furniture of the post-war period, especially pieces from Italy, France, and Scandinavia. These are augmented by ethnographic artifacts and the odd eccentric antique; things that complement the best work of the m...Read More
Featured Pieces
Untitled Ink Painting ‘Monotype’ by Peter Voulkos
Peter Voulkos
Vintage 1980s American Modern Paintings
Paper
This untitled abstract expressionist piece is a monotype (ink painting) by the hand of the inimitable enfant terrible of American Postwar ceramics and sculpture, Peter Voulkos. Effec...
“L’Inconnue de la Seine”
Anonymous
Vintage 1950s German Modern Wall-mounted Sculptures
Porcelain
This bisque porcelain wall mask is of an anonymous woman who, in the 1880s, committed suicide by drowning by jumping into the Seine river in Paris. Her identity was never discovered,...
"Chinese Chair" by Hans Wegner
Fritz Hansen
Vintage 1940s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chairs
Leather, Cherry
The elemental and elegant "Chinese Chair" of 1943 was the first great work by the legendary Danish furniture designer, Hans Wegner. Of all of Wegner's Ming-inspired chairs, this earl...
Mirror or Picture-Frame by Mathieu Matégot
Mathieu Matégot
Vintage 1950s French Modern Wall Mirrors
Steel
Made in the 1950s of enameled steel perforated in a pattern with Matégot's distinctive trefoil motif, this piece can serve either as a picture frame or as a chic wall-mirror. In comp...
Coat Rack by Jean Royère
Jean Royère
Vintage 1960s French Modern Coat Racks and Stands
Brass, Fruitwood
Designed by that most French of French designers, Jean Royère, and made in the 1960s, this coat rack is a fruitwood-veneered wooden plank fitted with three nickel-plated brass patère...
Mixed-Media Collage by André Bloc
André Bloc
Vintage 1950s French Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
André Bloc (1896-1966), French architect/sculptor, was the very influential founder of L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, the iconic French architecture magazine which he ran from 1930 un...
1936 Wall Clock by Gio Ponti
Gio Ponti
Vintage 1930s Italian Modern Wall Clocks
Aluminum, Steel, Glass
“Woe to the machine that confesses the strain in its work. We appreciate – in machines, like in men – hermetic organisms, skillful work, and elegance in exertion.” -- Gio Ponti
De...
Jugendstil Vase by Josef Hoffmann
Bieffeplast, Josef Hoffmann
Antique Early 1900s Italian Jugendstil Vases
Steel
Josef Hoffmann designed this lacquered steel vase (with a removable glass insert) at the very start of the 20th century, this example is from the edition made in Italy in the 1960s b...
"LTR" Occasional Table by Charles Eames
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Tables
Steel, Wood
Charles and Ray Eames kept several of these "LTR" tables at the famous Eames House in Los Angeles, where they served a wide variety of functions. At parties held there in the 'fiftie...
"Le Baiser de Feu" by Salvador Dali, 1954
Salvador Dalí
Vintage 1950s Spanish Modern Decorative Art
Faience
"The Kiss of Fire" is from a series of faïence ceramic tiles designed by Salvador Dali in 1954. Dali created six designs which expressed his love for the beauty of Spain, the country...
Rare King-Size Headboard by Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Vintage 1950s American Modern Beds and Bed Frames
Leather, Mahogany
Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Henredon in 1955, this rare headboard for a king-size bed is made of solid African mahogany, its edges carved with Wright's distinctive Taliesen "G...
"Impertinent Rooster" Massive Ceramic Sculpture...
Salvatore Fiume
Vintage 1950s Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Earthenware
Salvatore Fiume (1915-1997) was a fascinating and relentlessly inventive Italian artist and writer, a larger-than-life figure who worked in a surrealist idiom, creating fantastic pai...