Ettore Sottsass Chronograph, Collection Sottsass for Seiko, Purple, Japan, 1993
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Ettore Sottsass Chronograph, Collection Sottsass for Seiko, Purple, Japan, 1993
About the Item
- Creator:Ettore Sottsass (Designer),Seiko
- Dimensions:Height: 1 in (2.54 cm)Width: 8 in (20.32 cm)Depth: 0.5 in (1.27 cm)
- Style:Post-Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:1990-1999
- Date of Manufacture:1993
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Chicago, IL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU5962226344252
Ettore Sottsass
An architect, industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, Ettore Sottsass led a revolution in the aesthetics and technology of modern design in the late 20th century.
Sottsass was the oldest member of the Memphis Group — a design collective, formed in Milan in 1980, whose irreverent, spirited members included Alessandro Mendini, Michele de Lucchi, Michael Graves and Shiro Kuramata. All had grown disillusioned by the staid, black-and-brown “corporatized” modernism that had become endemic in the 1970s. Memphis (the name stemmed from the title of a Bob Dylan song) countered with bold, brash, colorful, yet quirkily minimal designs for furniture, glassware, ceramics and metalwork. They mocked high-status by building furniture with inexpensive materials such as plastic laminates, decorated to resemble exotic finishes such as animal skins. Their work was both functional and — as intended — shocking. Even as it preceded the Memphis Group's formal launch, Sottsass's iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell and radical pops of pink neon — embodies many of the collective's postmodern ideals.
Sottsass's most-recognized designs appeared in the first Memphis collection, issued in 1981 — notably the multihued, angular Carlton room divider and Casablanca bookcase. As pieces on 1stDibs demonstrate, however, Sottsass is at his most imaginative and expressive in smaller, secondary furnishings such as lamps and chandeliers, and in table pieces and glassware that have playful and sculptural qualities.
It was as an artist that Ettore Sottsass was celebrated in his life, in exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in 2006, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art a year later. Even then Sottsass’s work prompted critical debate. And for a man whose greatest pleasure was in astonishing, delighting and ruffling feathers, perhaps there was no greater accolade. That the work remains so revolutionary and bold — that it breaks with convention so sharply it will never be considered mainstream — is a testament to his genius.
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$1,500 / item - 1986 Gray and Black Enorme Telephone by Ettore Sottsass for EnormeBy Ettore SottsassLocated in Brooklyn, NYA perfectly postmodern telephone designed by the Memphis Milano master, Ettore Sottsass, and produced in 1986. The Enorme phone was produced in another color way but this is the much rarer gray and black version. The Enorme telephone was the result of a collaboration between Sottsass and David Kelley, founder of the design firm IDEO. Sottsass created the conceptual design, and Kelley and his team were responsible for the engineering and detail design. To produce the telephone, the two formed the Enorme Corporation with Jean Pigozzi. Examples of this phone design are found in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, RISD Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum. In good vintage condition with wear consistent with age and use. Works great! Molded manufacturer's mark on handset and base: "Designed by Ettore Sottsass Enorme...Category
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- 1986 Enorme Telephone Handset by Ettore SottsassBy Ettore SottsassLocated in Brooklyn, NYA perfectly postmodern telephone handset designed by the Memphis Milano master, Ettore Sottsass, and produced in 1986. The Enorme telephone was the result of a collaboration between...Category
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- 1986 Enorme Telephone Handset by Ettore SottsassBy Ettore SottsassLocated in Brooklyn, NYA perfectly postmodern telephone handset designed by the Memphis Milano master, Ettore Sottsass, and produced in 1986. The Enorme telephone was the result of a collaboration between Sottsass and David Kelley, founder of the design firm IDEO. Sottsass created the conceptual design, and Kelley and his team were responsible for the engineering and detail design. To produce the telephone, the two formed the Enorme Corporation with Jean Pigozzi. Examples of this phone design are found in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, RISD Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum. In vintage condition with wear consistent with age and use. This is the handset only and it has not been tested. Molded manufacturer's mark on handset and base: "Designed by Ettore Sottsass Enorme...Category
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- Limited Edition Vase O by Ettore SottsassBy Ettore Sottsass, Design Gallery MilanoLocated in Barcelona, BarcelonaTwenty-seven woods for a Chinese Artificial flower vase O by Ettore Sottsass, edited by Design Gallery Milano, 1995. Limited edition of 12 signed and numered pieces, number 3 / 1...Category
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$8,347 Sale Price20% Off