Lot 363
CARLO BUGATTI
WALNUT ARMCHAIR, CIRCA 1900
Auction: 14 April 2010 at 12:00 BST
Description
with embossed copper decorations, the rectangular back covered in vellum and painted with a frieze of poppies, supported by turned uprigghts on a studded vellum seat on crossed vellum covered supports
Dimensions
60cm wide, 104cm high
Footnote
Note: Carlo Bugatti was born in Milan on 16 February 1856. Although he worked with ceramics, musical instruments, silverware, and textiles, he is best known for his furniture designs. The first show of Bugatti furniture was at the 1888 Fine Arts Fair in Milan. Influenced by Gothic, Moorish and Oriental styles, Bugatti used inlays of exotic woods, copper, pewter and vellum in his designs. In the summer of 1888 his work was displayed at the Italian Exhibition at Earls Court in London, his first international show. His furniture was awarded an honorary prize at this exhibition and his characteristic furniture style began to find avid devotees around the world. In New York, the Waldorf Astoria’s Turkish Salon was furnished with Bugatti pieces. Further shows followed in Amsterdam and Antwerp, and international newspaper reports and reviews contributed to his growing fame. In 1900 his furniture was awarded the silver medal at the Paris World Fair.
Exhibited: The Amazing Bugattis', Royal College of Art, London, 1979