Designer: Annemarie Davidson (1920 – 2012)
Item: Enamel Lidded Jewels Box
Manufactured by: Annemarie Davidson and Blaine Rath
Country of origin: United States
Year made: Circa 1960
Materials: Copper enamel tile on Walnut wood box
Dimensions: 1 ½” x 9 ¼” x 3 ½”
Condition: Excellent
Description: Here is a beautiful lidded long box by Davidson in walnut with an enameled copper plaque inlaid into the top. The decoration in the enamel work is Davidson’s most highly regarded and collected Jewels design where she used glass and thick enamel to achieve a rich irradiance, glow and three-dimensional surface on the enamel. These abstracted Jewels designs are considered Davidson’s most highly acclaimed and accomplished art works. This box appears to be for holding two decks of playing cards, but can also be used for jewelry or other trinkets. Davidson’s boxes have cork bottoms with her cypher usually in ink, but it appears on this example the cypher has rubbed off the cork. created all her enamel work alone from start to finish.
Davidson’s desk accessories (e.g. lidded boxes, pen holders, blotters, bookends, and lighters) were a collaboration with the noted woodworking artist Blaine Rath starting in 1959 and are much harder to find, because not many were produced. Although Davidson’s enamel plates and dishes with objective imagery are ubiquitous, inexpensive, and abundant, her abstracted desk accessories (i.e. bookends, boxes, pen holders, blotters, etc.) are fairly hard to find. Davidson collaborated with Rath who was an established woodworker and well regarded studio artist in her own right, to produce the boxes and other wood bases for Davidson’s enamel art. However, very little biographical information about Rath is available.
Davidson was born in Berlin in 1920, and came to the US in 1936. She studied economics at New York University and later at Columbia University. She studied enameling with the prominent enamel pioneer Doris Hall in the 1950s. Davidson moved to southern California with her husband in 1946, and lived and worked in the Los Angeles area until her death in 2012. Her early abstract work is her most highly regarded, and was exhibited at California Design in 1960. She was listed in Craftsmen of the Southwest in 1965 which only listed 8 enamelists total including Fred Ball, Margaret Montgomery Barlow, Nik Krevitsky, June Schwarcz, Kay Whitcomb and Elllamarie and Jackson Woolley. In her work, Davidson frequently uses pieces of glass of varying sizes to create irregular organic shapes which she calls “jewels.” These raised forms appear to float on the liquid surface of the vessel or plaque. For many of her abstract compositions, she also uses a sgraffito technique, incising straight lines with the sharp point of a dart. These hand-drawn lines, which fan out from a central focal point, present a linear counterpoint to the more fluid, organic and sculptural form of the jewels.
Her works were exhibited in her lifetime at the Pasadena Art Museum, Long Beach Museum of Art, Mobile Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Her work can also be found other important museum collections, and a similar example of this box is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art permanent collection.
References: Nelson, Harold; Jazzar, Bernard, Painting with Fire: Masters of Enameling in America, 1930-1980. Long Beach Museum of Art, California (2006); Rosenberg, Alan, Alluring Enamel. Modernism Magazine: (Spring 2003) pages 68–72; Jazzar, Bernard N and Nelson, Harold B. The Enamels of Annemarie Davidson, Glass on Metal, The Enamelist’s Magazine, Volume 27 Number 5 December 2008, pages 98-100; periodical California Design: 6 in 1960.
Designer: Kaj Franck (1911 – 1989), pattern designer Raija Uosikkinen (1923 - 2004)
Item: Kerha Bowl
Manufactured by: Finel (Arabia)
Country of origin: Finland
Year made: 1950s
Materials: Steel with enamel finish
Dimensions: 5 ½” x 8 ¼” in diameter
Condition: Excellent, near mint
Description: Here is a very hard-to-find Kehra bowl by Raija Uosikkinen the purple and orange decoration on a white ground. The Kerha bowl is usually found with a red ground and black decoration. Raija Uosikkinen was one of the leading Finnish decorators of the 20th century, and spent her entire four decade career working at the Arbaia factory, but mostly worked on ceramics. We have seen and handled a few of this model, but almost always with obvious and noticeable condition issues. This example is as close to mint as you are likely to find. Therefore we have priced this accordingly.
Kaj Franck was one of Finland’s leading and influential figures of design and applied arts between 1940 and 1980. He is probably best known for his ceramic designs for Arabia of Finland (now known as Ittala) that became the parent company of Finel who produced this bowl and as well as other steel and enameled kitchen wares. Franck went to work for Arabia in 1945 and then became the artistic director of its ceramic factory three years later. He also designed glass and steel objects.
The design of this physical bowl shape is by Franck, but the outer decorations were outsourced to other major Finnish illustrators and ceramic pattern designers such as Esteri Tomula, Raija Uosikkinen, and Heikki Orvola. Franck’s designs are in most major museum collections, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City held his first retrospective in 1992. Many of his ceramic and glass designs are still in production and sold through Ittala.
Finel was a brand under which Wärtsilä and Järvenpää Emali created enamel kitchenware and tableware items from as early as the 1950s. In the early 1960s Wärtsilä rebranded their enamel ware division as Finel. In the early 1980s the brand was sold to Hackman Finland, and some examples of these bowls bear that foil label. It is estimated that over 500,000 of these steel bowls were produced over the decades. However, the vast majority were popular designs such as mushrooms, vegetables and other commonly found themes, and since these were used for everyday kitchen and serving purposes, almost all the examples available have condition issues, such as chipping and losses on the top edges, utensil scratching and other problems. Finding the rarer examples in excellent condition is a real challenge.
Designer: Sergio Asti (1926 – 2021)
Item: SABU Bar Tools Set
Manufactured by: SABU
Country of origin: Japan
Year made: 1970s
Materials: Brushed Stainless Steel and rubber
Dimensions: External dimensions of the box are 1” x 9 ¾” x 8 ¼”
Condition: Mint in original box with paper insert
Description: Here is a very rarely found set of bar tools by Sergio Asti designed for the Japanese firm SABU. Each piece is marked “Sergio Asti Italy by SABU Made in Japan” as shown in the photos. The set consists of six olive or fruit forks, two muddlers or stirring rods and one bottle opener. We have seen the bottle opener sold separately and have only seen one other complete set.
Sergio Asti was an Italian architect and designer born in Milan, Italy. After graduating from the Milan Polytechnic, he began his career in the mid-50s he was an assistant professor of interior architecture from 1953 to 1958. Asti was considered one of the leading designers of his generation, and he collaborated with some of the most important companies of the time (and today) such as Cassina, Knoll, Poltronova, Zanotta, Gabbianelli, Salviati, Heller, Venini, Arteluce, Artemide, Fontana Arte, and Martinelli.
Designer: Enzo Mari (b. 1932)
Item: Letter Openers
Manufactured by: Danese Milano
Country of origin: Italy
Year made: 1961, 1962 and 1985
Materials: Stainless steel
Dimensions: Ameland is 8 ½” long x ¾”, Bencecula is 13 ½” long x 1” x 2 ½” and Giglio is 11” long x 2 ½” x 1”, and the original packing boxes are 1” x ¾” x 8 ½”, 1 ¼” x 4 ½” x 14 ¾” and 1 ¼” x 2 ½” x 11” respectively.
Condition: All are mint in original boxes, New Old Stock
Description: Here are three vintage Enzo Mari letter openers being sold as a set. The Ameland is the most famous and ubiquitous design for a letter opener by Enzo Mari made for retail sale at the Museum of Modern Art’s (MOMA) book and gift store in 1962, and still being made today. The Benbecula designed in 1961 is perhaps the hardest of these openers to find. The Giglio has a round handle and was designed in 1985, and this example retains its paper insert and original MOMA label. All are marked with the Danese Milano marks and dated, as shown. Although Danese still manufactures these designs, these examples are vintage pieces, likely from the late 1980s.
Examples of these designs can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum and other major museum design collections.
References: Danese Milano, manufacturer's catalog, 1976, pg. 96 Enzo Mari: L'arte del Design, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Torino exhibition catalog, pg. 176.
Designer: Flli Mannelli (Mannelli Brothers)
Item: Mannelli Travertine Rhinoceros Bookends
Manufactured by: Fratelli Mannelli for Vero Travertino di Rapolano
Country of origin: Italy
Year made: Circa 1970
Materials: Pink Travertine Marble
Dimensions: Each is 4” x 7” x 2 ½”
Condition: Very good. Some natural roughness that can seen on some edges as to be expected with Travertine.
Description: Here is an important pair of larger Fratelli Mannelli travertine bookends in the shape of a Rhinoceros. The more commonly found animals are elephants and giraffes. The travertine used for these examples is a rarely found light pinkish shade. Each weigh nearly 5 pounds and each has the Flli Mannelli design labels, as well as the Vero Travertino do Rapolano labels affixed to the bottoms, as shown.
Designer: Piero Fornasetti (1913 – 1988)
Item: Monete Romane (Roman Coins) Box
Manufactured by: Piero Fornasetti
Country of origin: Italy
Year made: 1950s
Materials: Steel with mahogany wood slide, silkscreen printed images, paint.
Dimensions: Box is 1 ½” x 5 ½” x 3 ½”
Condition: Very good with a few scattered minor losses of paint as shown.
Description: Here is another rare example of Fornasetti’s well known Roman Coins box with its original green felt but the Fornasetti logo is rubbed beyond recognition.
References: Fornasetti, Barnaba, Fornasetti: The Complete Universe, Rizzoli (2010), page 500.
Designer: Carl Auböck II (1900 – 1957)
Item: Pair of Hurricane Candlesticks Model #4133
Manufactured by: Werkstätte Carl Auböck
Country of origin: Austria
Year made: 1950s
Materials: Patinated Brass and bamboo
Dimensions: Each is 3 ¾” x 7 ½” x 3 ½”
Condition: Excellent, but missing original glass.
Description: Here is another rarely found, but iconic Auböck design for a candlestick referred to as a Hurricane Lantern or candlestick and we have seen them also referred to as Windlight (Windlicht) candlesticks, because a glass dome fits over the top to keep the candle from blowing out. The Werkstätte produced several different candlestick models that were named “Hurricane” and had a glass dome over the flame to protect it from the wind. All are very hard to find, even without the glass dome. We have only seen one example of this model retaining its original glass, and according to the Werkstätte archives books, there was a rattan shade that fit over the top of the glass. We have never seen an actual example that retains the rattan shade. Both these examples are marked with the correct vintage Auböck and Made in Austria impressed marks in the brass on the underside as shown.
References: Wright Auction Catalog; The Workshop: Carl Auböck Designs 1930-1980 (2016); Auböck, Carl IV, die kataloge der werkstätte carl auböck 1925 -1975, Carl Auböck Archive (2005); Auböck, Carl IV, die arbeiten der Werkstätte carl auböck – fotografiert von 1948 – 2005, Carl Auböck Archive (2009).
Designer: Piero Fornasetti (1913 – 1988)
Item: Box with Pipes Motif
Manufactured by: Piero Fornasetti
Country of origin: Italy
Year made: Circa 1960
Materials: Steel, wood, lithographed images, paint and felt
Dimensions: 1 ¼” x 5 ½” x 3 ½”
Condition: Very good. The gold embossed label on the red felt bottom is mostly intact but has been reapplied to the bottom corner as shown.
Description: Here is an original vintage Piero Fornasetti made slide box with his famous smoking pipes design and early dovetailed corners on the wooden box. The colors are bright and vibrant on this box. This box has its original red felt bottom bearing the correct gold Fornasetti signature and logo, which has been reapplied. Original vintage slide boxes are getting hard to find.
Designer: Richard Rohac (1906 – 1956)
Item: Wings Bookends
Manufactured by: Richard Rohac
Country of origin: Austria
Year made: Late 1940s
Materials: Patinated and unpolished brass
Dimensions: Each are 4 ½” x 4 ½” x 2”
Condition: Very good. We have left these unpolished and as found estate condition, so there are some places where the patination is rubbed, as seen in the photos.
Description: Another fine, well executed and elegant pair of patinated brass bookends by Richard Rohac. This set is fully signed with the Rohac reverse Rs cypher and his unique Made in Austria marks, and also retains the impressed numbers 1 and 2, as shown.
This set was easy to date because the unpatinated edges show unevenness and blotchy brass indicative of brass works from Austria immediately after World War II when brass shell casings from munitions were melted for use. The brass was very impure with imperfections creating this splotchy or quilted look to the unpatinated finish. This use of a very dark patination to obscure the impure brass was also used by the major Vienna workshops.
Rohac was a master metal craftsman who began and completed his apprenticeship with the Werkstatte Hagenauer in Vienna, Austria as a teenager and stayed with the workshop another nine years before opening his own metalwork business in 1932. Often Rohac’s bookends, ashtrays and candlesticks compete well with the overall quality, craftsmanship and designs of the Vienna workshops of Hagenauer (where he apprenticed) and Carl Auböck, but at a much more reasonable price point.