Design Guru Murray Moss Launches an Auction With Paddle8

The New York design impresario, consultant, and pioneering eye of the '90s and early aughts auctions off items from his former gallery and personal collection with Paddle8.
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We've written before about the closing of Manhattan design guru Murray Moss' beloved and groundbreaking wunderkammer that was the SoHo gallery, Moss, as well as his venture into consulting and curatorial work through Moss Bureau, a smaller, more intimate space with occasional installations. Now, the impresario and pioneering eye behind the design world's zeitgeist of the late '90s through early aughts—think: hyper-luxurious, collectible items bridging art and design, with adventurous juxtapositions between material and form—offers up a sizable collection of furniture and product designs from the gallery, as well as select pieces from his personal collection. 

Encompassing 66 lots chosen by Moss, "Iconic Designs from the Moss Archive," is now open for bidding through online auction house Paddle8 through September 9, including pieces from many of those he helped to champion, from the Campana Brothers, to Hella Jongerius, Maarten Baas, Fornasetti, Studio Job, and many more. Peep the slideshow above for a look at some of the eccentric offerings.
 

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Biscuit Tiered Cake Candleholder (2006) by Studio Job, estimated at $600–$800. In 2006, Studio Job created a collection entitled “Biscuit,” consisting of nine plates and five objects, for Royal Tichelaar Makkum in the Netherlands. Produced using an old press, a machine that is able to work in relief in greater depth, this gleaming white tiered cake candleholder features rich relief decorations characteristic of Studio Job.

 

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Child's Chair (2006) by Maarten Baas, estimated at $1,200–$1,800. Designer Maarten Baas developed a series of clay furniture in order to highlight the designer’s hand in the intimate process of creation. Made from industrial clay with a reinforcing metal skeleton, each piece of clay furniture, including this Child’s Chair, is modeled by hand, thus, unique.

 

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Favela Tree (2004) by Fernando and Humberto Campana, estimated at $10,000–$15,000. Inspired by the “Favela” chair designed by the Campana Brothers in 2002, this unique sculpture was commissioned by Murray Moss and handmade in the Campana studio in 2004. Constructed from various pieces of wood randomly joined together, it references favelas, the ad-hoc shelters built of scraps of wood, bricks, and stones on the fringes of Brazilian cities

 

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Cactus Vase (2007) by Jiri Pelcl, estimated at $1,000-$1,500. Created in 2007 by Czech designer Jiri Pelcl, the Cactus vase merges the designer’s travel memories in Peru with the shape of lab glass tubes. Imagined as an abstract body of nature, this vase can also be used as a candlestick.

 

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Faux Repair Plates (2000), set of 12, by Ted Muehling, estimated at $4,000–$6,000. From the acclaimed German manufacturer Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg, this set of twelve plates references the Japanese tradition of drawing attention to imperfections. Ted Muehling simulates cracks in the glaze by painting sinuous gold lines onto the surface.

 

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Come Rain Come Shine Chandelier (2004) by Tord Boontje, estimated at $3,000–$5,000. Handmade by the Coopa Roca, a women’s cooperative based in Rio de Janeiro’s largest favela, Rocinha, and employing humanitarian values and artisan production methods consistent with Artecnica’s Design with Conscience campaign, Tord Boontje’s “Come Rain Come Shine” brings playful sophistication to any interior. Constructed from a circular metal structure embellished with crocheted cotton, organza, and silk blossoms, this chandelier casts a dramatic glow when lit.

 

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Curated Tumblers (1988), set of eight, by Angelo Mangiarotti, estimated at $600–$800. Designed by Angelo Mangiarotti, this set of polymorphic tumblers from his “First Glass” and "Ice Stopper" services reveals his ability to bring out the sensuality of objects by challenging the limits of blown glass techniques.

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Haute Couture Tea Service (2001) by Konstantin Grcic, estimated at $1,800–$2,500. Designed by Konstantin Grcic, the Haute Couture Tea Service focuses on an aspect of the method of porcelain production. He uses the seams produced by the process of demolding to decorate his plain white tea service. A finely dotted line in the shape of a seam borders the individual pieces as a relief.

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Graphic Paper Illustrated Table (2007) by Studio Job, estimated at $4,000–$6,000. In 2007, Studio Job created a furniture collection, made of paper and cardboard, exclusive to Moss Bureau. Produced in a limited and signed edition of twelve pieces by Moooi, this table playfully features specially-designed decals of insects on a white ground, one of their signifying patterns.

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Skygarden Suspension Lamp (2007) by Marcel Wanders, estimated at $1,000–$1,500. From designer Marcel Wanders, the Skygarden S suspension lamp features a glossy black hemisphere encircling mechanically-drawn motifs from 18th-century French Rococo on a white plaster surface.

Aileen Kwun
Writer and Editor. Author, Twenty Over Eighty: Conversations on a Lifetime in Architecture and Design (Princeton Architectural Press, 2016). Visiting instructor, Pratt Institute. Tell me something good: aileenkwun@gmail.com

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