Saffronart to auction period furniture
In the wake of UNESCO’s recent addition of Mumbai’s Art Deco buildings to the World Heritage list, the Art Deco style, which was brought to India in the early 20th century through influential royal families and trade merchants, has garnered interest again. It influenced not just architecture of Mumbai, but its interiors as well.
Saffronart will host an auction between August 8 and 9, featuring 59 lots of furniture from across India. On show will be cabinets, chairs, tables and desks that heralded the arrival of modernist architecture in post-Independent India. Their iconic style, rooted in attention to functionality and comfort, provides a contrast to the intricately carved furniture from Ahmedabad that is also included in The Design Sale.
The lots on offer are priced between Rs 15,000 - 6.3 lakh. The Art Deco Sideboard (lot 53), made of teak and estimated at Rs 2.5 - 3 lakh, and an Art Deco Secretarial Desk (lot 44), estimated at Rs 1.1 - 1.3 lakh. The 20Art Deco lots offer an excellent opportunity to include a part of Mumbai’s unique design heritage into a modern home.
The highest value lot in this sale is an intricately Carved Davenport Desk (lot 1), attributed to the Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company. Estimated at Rs 5.3 - 6.3 lakh, it represents Gujarat’s rich tradition of woodworking, seen in the local architecture and furniture. This decorative tradition became popular in the international market through the pioneering efforts of American furniture designer lockwood de Forest, who set up the Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company in the late 19th century, combining local craftsmanship with his unique design aesthetic.
Ahmedabad also hosted the internationally renowned American architect George Nakashima, who was invited to design furniture for the National Institute of Design in 1964. He incorporated a touch of Japanese simplicity into the complexity of woodcraft in his designs.
The set of two Grass-Seated Chairs (lot 37), designed in Ahmedabad and estimated at Rs 1.8 - 2.2 lakh, embody Nakashima's spiritual aesthetic and the unique beauty of the Indian Rosewood he admired. Also on offer is a Grass-Seated Stool, George Nakashima (lot 38), estimated atRs 1.25 - 1.75 lakh.