Phillips would like to thank The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum for their assistance cataloguing the present lot.

Mirroring the organic forms of Noguchi’s sculptures and installations of the same period, the present “Cloud” sofa and ottoman embody the biomorphism Noguchi sought to express in his work. George Nelson, then Creative Director of The Herman Miller Furniture Company, described Noguchi’s “Cloud” designs as “neither homey like the handicraft object nor rigid like the machine form – but amorphous and flowing like living tissue.” The “Cloud” sofa and ottoman appeared in Architectural Forum (April 1949) as Noguchi’s ideal concept for furniture design: “It should be, he says, ‘a soft rock.’” Although Interiors (March 1949) gave it qualified praise—“screwballish to some, of extraordinary plastic beauty to others”—the “Cloud” became an iconic example of the sculptural design of the late 1940s. Despite the many press mentions received, however, it was never published in Herman Miller’s catalogues, nor mass-produced; the “Cloud” was made-to-order between 1949 and 1951.

Of only six sofa and ottoman sets known to have been made, the present lot is one of four examples of each known to be extant. One set is included in the permanent collection of the Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and one sofa in the Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany. One set was purchased by a private collector from Christie’s East, “Important Design”, November 27, 1999. One ottoman was purchased from Wright “Design,” December 12, 2013. The fourth set, offered here, was acquired by the present owner from Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg, “20-21st Century Design Art”, May 22, 2002.