Alberto Giacometti

According to Annette Giacometti, this example is one of a group designed by Alberto Giacometti for Jean-Michel Frank circa 1930, and cast later by Diego Giacometti

DeLorenzo Gallery, New York
Jay Spectre Collection (acquired from the above and sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 18, 1990, lot 262)
Acquired at the above sale by A. Alfred Taubman

Attractive golden patina. Some pindots of accretion in places and a few spots of discoloration in the lower 1/3 of the lamp. A one-inch surface scratch with a few associated tiny scratches is visible in the round form at top of the lamp. In addition a horizontal seam is visible at the center of the lamp and there is an original foundry seam towards the bottom of the lamp. Overall this work is in very good condition.
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.

In 1929 Giacometti was introduced by Man Ray to Jean-Michel Frank, whose decoration shop was located 140 rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré in Paris. Among Frank’s clients were the great writers and collectors of the time: Paul Éluard, Charles et Marie-Laure de Noailles, Elsa Schiaparelli and Nelson Rockefeller, among many others. Giacometti and Frank became close friends and worked together until the war. For his friend’s commissioned interiors, Giacometti designed vases, chandeliers and lights. Indeed, these decorative works never were dissociated from his sculpture in the artist’s mind.

Giacometti adopted Frank’s aesthetic of the anonymity and “modest luxury." The objects produced were not meant to be functional, but to stand out as a visual statement in Frank’s minimalist interiors, reminiscent of a lost civilization. In 1936, the critic Waldemar George wrote that Giacometti’s objects look like “excavated objects. Giacometti has the antique under his skin” (Waldemar George, “Jean-Michel Frank,” in Art et décoration, March 1936, p. 91)