On 27 November 2006 Quittenbaum will hold its third “Highlights of Design History” auction, headlining “Design made in Germany”. Germany has a long and highly productive design tradition to which we would like to pay tribute, through a focus on German-designed objects.
Among the oldest pieces on offer are six wine glasses by Peter Behrens from 1902. The Bauhaus section includes two 1927 ‘Wassily’ chairs by Marcel Breuer (estimated price: €12,000 each) as well as two ‘MR-20’ cantilever chairs by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, created in the same year (estimated price: € 11,000 each).
The auction’s top lots include a sofa table with mosaic top by Egon Eiermann, a unicum that he designed during his Berlin years for the city’s Villa Vollberg (estimated price: €10,000). Other Eiermann designs on offer include two ‘E-10’ wicker chairs as well as a sorting rack from the federal assembly building he built in Bonn.
German post-war design is represented with Bodo Rasch’s ‘Insel’ (‘Island’) chair of 1946 (estimated price: €3,000). A three-legged chair from 1949 (estimated price: €2,200) comes from Max Bill, the co-founder of the Ulm School of Design. From Paul Schneider von Esleben, Quittenbaum is offering a pair of 1958 ‘PSE 58’ easy chairs for €9,000.
Günter Beltzig is well represented with pieces including the ’Floris’ chair of 1967 (estimated price: €10,000) – his protest against the design convention “form follows function”. The 1960s and ?70s are also represented with furniture by Dieter Rams, Herbert Hirche, Frei Otto and Luigi Colani’s ‘Sadima’ lounger, designed around 1970.
The offering is rounded off with pieces by contemporary designers such as Ingo Maurer, Konstantin Grcic, and Stefan Diez, whose 2002 pre-production ‘Instant Lounge’ folding easy chair is going under the hammer (estimated price: €1,500).
