Bertoia teapot, $27,140.
George Nelson Watermelon clock, $17,700.
– Wright’s auction conducted on December 7 at 1140 West Fulton Market, realized top prices for Modernist Twentieth Century design icons. This auction featured important pieces of American Art Deco. There were 336 lots offered. Prices reported include the buyer’s premium.
A Walter Dorwin Teague’s Nocturne radio was a museum-quality example offered at auction in excellent, original condition with an estimate of $50/70,000.
Other highlights from the auction were an important selection of sculptural forms by Harry Bertoia. Top lots included a teapot created while Bertoia was an instructor at Cranbrook Academy. This early and important teapot represents a more adventurous departure from the Art Deco inspired metalwork usually seen from this period. Estimated at $10/15,000, the piece sold for $27,140.
A beautiful Piero Fornasetti folding screen, titled “Scaletta (The Little Staircase),” estimated at $7/9,000, sold for a record price of $28,320. The screen was featured in a window display at the Italian-based store Frette in Chicago for the month of October, reflecting Fornasetti’s versatile style of midcentury modern while blending with classic and traditional elements.
Another auction record price was set by the sale of an exceptional Watermelon clock by George Nelson and Associates. This rare variation of the clock in a two-tone coloration was in pristine condition with its original label. Estimated at $6/8000, it sold for $17,700.
