Art as Jewelry as Art
Art as Jewelry as Art
A European Private Collector
Ettore Sottsass
Double-Barreled Ring
Lot Closed
October 6, 05:38 PM GMT
Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
A European Private Collector
Ettore Sottsass for Cleto Munari
1917 - 2007
Double-Barreled Ring
circa 1984, signed Sottsass and possibly 52; 18k gold hallmark; ring shank stamped with owl with the number ‘75' on its breast
18k gold, onyx, and diamond ring designed by Ettore Sottsass and produced by Cleto Munari in two levels of tiered 18k gold; two square onyx blocks, each topped with a cylindrical form in gold crowned in platinum, each set with nine diamonds weighing approximately one and a half carats
1 7⁄16 by ⅞ by ⅝ in.; 3.6 by 2.3 by 1.6 cm.
Size: 7¼ (US)
21st Century Jewels Gallery, London
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Alessandro Vezzosi, Il Tesoro Dell'architettura: Cleto Munari 1980/1990. Gioielli, Argenti, Vetri, Orologi, Edifir, Florence, 1990, p. 105
Ettore Sottsass for Cleto Munari Ring is one of the first pieces of the artist's Cleto Munari jewelry collection in the 1980s. Typically, Munari would do editions of nine, but according to Alexandro Munari, two to three of this Double-Barreled Ring were made. This ring is archetypal of the Italian architect’s design aesthetic. Sottsass stood at some of the most crucial intersections of design history in his sixty-year career. He created jewelry just as dazzlingly eccentric as his eclectic furniture and interiors. His early jewelry, dating to the 1960s, was restrained and yet simultaneously powerful. In his 1980s works like the ring above, Sottsass’ jewelry took on a highly playful, provocative spirit and focused on symmetry and totemic form. His work is included in private collections and museums worldwide.