Lot 60
JORGE ZALSZUPIN (POLISH/BRAZILIAN 1922-2020) FOR L'ATELIER MÓVÉIS, BRAZIL Y
'CARINHO DE CHÁ' ROLLING DRINKS TROLLEY, DESIGNED 1959
Auction: 30 October from 10:00 GMT
Description
bears l'Atelier Móvéis paper label, rosewood, brass and painted metal
Dimensions
70cm high, 110cm wide, 48cm deep (27 ½in high, 43 3/8in wide, 18 7/8in deep)
Footnote
After emigrating from Poland to Brazil in 1949, the architect Jorge Zalszupin began designing furniture for his own interiors. Growing demand led him to establish L’Atelier in São Paulo in 1959. The Carrinho de Chá, among the firm’s earliest designs, re-imagined the tea trolley then common in Brazilian homes as a light, sculptural piece of modern furniture.
The trolley’s large brass wheels re-call the prams Zalszupin knew in Poland as a child. Set against a fine iron frame and curved wooden forms, they give the design both movement and visual balance. The model also shows how Zalszupin adapted an ambitious idea for production: in its first iteration the upper tray, carved with organic forms in pine or oak, was costly to make. He then created the model with a jacaranda-laminate tray with simpler rectangular forms, preserving the character of the design while making it more practical to produce.