Ilonka Karasz

Estate of the artist
Private Collection of Mark McDonald, acquired circa 1996

Ashley Callahan, Enchanting Modern: Ilonka Karasz, Athens, GA, 2003, p. 87-92

Overall in good condition. With scratches, nicks, dents and areas of lighter discolorations consistent with use. The smaller table with an age crack to the top measuring 4 inches in length. With seam separations throughout the tops some showing as much as 1/8 in separation. The smaller of the two tables with a an area of the center of the portion to the front stretcher with losses to the finish and showing lighter in the color. Both tables also with a seam separation extending the length of the same front edge apron to the first raised decoration extending the length of the tables and across the width of the shorter side. This is visible in the catalogue illustration and consistent with the aging of the wood. The smaller table with a slight warping to the one of the legs, as seen in the catalogue illustration. Please note the catalogue measurements of this lot as each is a large scale work.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

A furniture restorer that Fifty/50 used in the early 1980s was located in Florida, NY. He was a follower of Gurdjieff, who required their members to share all their possessions and earnings with the community. Upon her death, the Hungarian-born American designer and illustrator Ilonka Karasz, who was also a member, gave a large portion of her earthly possessions to the Gurdjieff Foundation of New York.  Because of our refinisher, we were asked to sell this material to raise money for the church. We felt the best way to do this was to organize an exhibition to educate clients about this forgotten designer. There was a large collection of her own work, including some 30 of the 150 covers she did for The New Yorker, modernist ceramics, silver and silver plate table articles and candlesticks, furniture, wallpaper, and a complete room of children's furniture. We did not realize until much later that we made serious enemies of the rest of the surviving family members by disposing this part of her estate. But the exhibition, "Ilonka Karasz: Pioneer Modernist" was well-received, and we sold the works to many important collections, including the "Lamelle" tea service which went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the 1990s I acquired these monumental nesting tables, which were originally part of a suite of furniture she made for her house in Java during her one-year stay there in 1930, and which she later used again in her house in Brewster NY.  -MM