Donald Colflesh - Design New York Tuesday, December 17, 2019 | Phillips

Design

New York Auction 17 December 2019

  • Literature

    Jewel Stern, Modernism in American Silver: 20th Century Design, exh. cat., Dallas Museum of Art, Da, 2005, pp. 257-63 for a discussion on the "Circa '70" line

  • Catalogue Essay

    Though the present lot belongs to a line of silver hollowware called “Circa ’70,” Donald Colflesh designed the pieces for Gorham Manufacturing Company more than a decade earlier. This title alludes to the futurism of his forms. The sleek lines of the slender decanter and the attenuated conical cordials almost look like spaceships, surely an inspiration for the young designer during the “Space Race.” Though the aesthetics of the present lot reflect a particular zeitgeist, the forms have remained strikingly modern. Just as a 1961 advertisement in The New Yorker predicted: “An inspiring design, this modern sterling has a timeless quality that makes it a joy to own today, tomorrow, forever." The “Circa ‘70” line also included a tea and coffee set, but the decanter and cordial glass are rarer examples of the “Circa ‘70” line. An example of the present model decanter and cordial belong to the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Dallas Museum of Art.

95

Donald Colflesh

Decanter and six cordials, from the “Circa ‘70” line

1960
Sterling silver, plastic.
Decanter: 15 3/8 in. (39.1 cm) high
Each cordial: 4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm) high
Produced by Gorham Manufacturing Company, Providence, RI. Underside of decanter impressed Gorham/STERLING/1466 and with hallmarks. Underside of each cordial glass impressed Gorham STERLING 1467.

Estimate
$6,000 - 8,000 

Sold for $6,250

Contact Specialist

DesignNewYork@phillips.com
+1 212 940 1265

Design

New York Auction 17 December 2019