Tapio Wirkkala

Lisa Licitra Ponti, "Le Forme di Tapio Wirkkala," Domus, March 1951, pp. 38-40
Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., "The Wonderworks of Tapio Wirkkala," Interiors, November 1951, p. 95
"The Most Beautiful Object of 1951," House Beautiful, January 1952, p. 66
Annikki Toikka-Karnoven, "Plywood Sculpture: Tapio Wirkkala Undercovers a New Decorative Medium," Craft Horizons, September-October 1952, pp. 10-13
Martin Eidelberg, ed., Design 1935-1965:  What Modern Was, Montreal, 1991, p. 157 (for a related example)
Marianne Aav and Nina Stritzler-Levine, eds., Finnish Modern Design:  Utopian Ideals and Everyday Realities, 1930-1997, New Haven, 1998, cover and back cover
Marianne Aav,  ed., Tapio Wirkkala:  Eye, Hand and Thought, Helsinki, 2000, pp. 224, 252, 267,

Overall excellent condition. A rare opportunity to acquire a large scale example of this Wirkkala design. Please note, this lot is being sold with a 1998 Gansevoort Gallery exhibition catalogue titled "The Nordic Modern Movement: Masterworks in Glass, Ceramics, Silver and Wood".
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.

Celebrated by House Beautiful in 1951 as "the most beautiful object of the year," Wirkkala's leaf platter series in laminated birch was held in the highest esteem by designers and curators of the era. Lisa Licitra Ponti compared the platters to dragonfly wings, and in 1951 they were awarded a grand prize at Milan IX Triennale. 

 

 

Mark Isaacson and I visited Edward Wormley many times at his charming country house in Connecticut.  He was sharp in his wit and as sweet a person as I had ever met. However, we met him late in his life, when he was in his 80's and was stressed over finances. Though shy and extremely self-effacing, he joked that he was the highest paid designer in America for three decades, but after retiring at 65, he had just lived too long, and his money had run out.

Ed was well-traveled, spoke several languages, and he knew everybody that mattered: designers, artists, architects, socialites, photographers, and set decorators. In his later years, he still had almost everything he had ever owned, piled dangerously wall to wall. The rabbit warren of rooms in his house were reduced to tiny paths between furniture, fine art, books, and stacks of 50 years of "clippings" on every available floor and surface. Digging through it all with glee, we discovered and bought great things over the next few years, helping Ed hold onto his home until his death. A partial list: Paul Cadmus etchings, George Tooker and Jean Cocteau drawings, elaborate set designs by Eugene Berman, photographs, and a huge collection of homoerotic art. Displayed on shelves of his own design from the famed "Janus" collection for Dunbar, we purchased ceramics by old friends of his including Otto and Gertrude Natzler, Ettore Sottsass, Guido Gambone, and Gio Ponti. Most had chips and damages caused by the sheer clutter. He suffered trauma in selling every single piece, and began every negotiation with "Oh no! I could never let that go!" Often a piece would trigger a flood of memories, and he thrilled us with stories of his famous friends and associates.

Our "prize score" from Ed was a plywood platter with a carved hole which had been a personal gift from Tapio Wirkkala. He couldn't say for sure, but we always believed it might be unique, as we had never seen another. When I closed Fifty/50 in the summer of 1993, I sold the dish to Murray Moss, a great friend of the gallery who had been a faithful supporter and an admirer of all things beautiful and rare. Several years later an identical model appeared at an auction in Los Angeles in the estate of Stanley Marcus, another collector and friend of Fifty/50, who also had a long personal relationship with Wirkkala. In memory of the first one, I bought the Marcus example for myself, and still own it today.  Last year, I purchased the present Wormley platter back from Murray. I think this is my favorite object of all the great things I have owned.  -MM