Designer: Richard Meier (born 1934)

Item: Ana Small Picture Frame

Manufactured by: Cleto Munari for Swid Powell

Country of origin: Italy

Year made: Ca. 1984

Materials: Silverplate over brass

Dimensions: 6” x 5 ¾” x 1 ¾”

Condition: Excellent. Some very minor tarnish and polishing marks on the feet. Signed with the earlier Swid Powell mark and Meier’s initials.

Description: An early Richard Meier designed frame for Swid Powell. Excellent heavy construction and quality craftsmanship. The Ana Small Frame was produced in limited numbers in both this round presentation hole frame and a slightly larger oval presentation hole frame model the Ana Medium Frame. The round presentation hole frame has square feet and the oval presentation hole has round feet. This model is seems to be the most prevalent, but we still have only seen a handful in the marketplace over the past ten years. We were lucky to be able to acquire two examples from the same collection, which we are selling separately. We have photographed the pair together, but this is for the specific single item you see in the first two photos. Meier designed four different Ana frames, the Large, Medium, Small and Mini. Meier’s designs for Swid Powell are in many major museum collections.

References: Tapert, Annette. SWID POWELL: Objects by Architects, Rizzoli, 1990.