Rare Chess Table Sells for $109,250
M.A.D. Staff | December 17th, 2012
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Photo courtesy S & S Auction, Inc. |
Rare Chess Table Sells for $109,250
A rare chess table designed by Isamu Noguchi for Herman Miller in the 1940's and discovered by a contractor renovating a home outside Newark, New Jersey, sold for $109,250 at a sale held on October 22, 2012, by S & S Auction, Inc. in Repaupo, New Jersey.
"The contractor found the table in sections," said Glenn Sweeney of S & S Auction in a press release. "Someone suggested he bring it to our auction, which he did, along with four other modern pieces. He had no idea of the table's importance until he saw it featured on the home page of our Web site. In the end, a buyer in Los Angeles purchased it for $95,000, plus the buyer's premium."
The original design for the table was made in 1944 for The Imagery of Chessexhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York City. There it was lauded as "the most beautiful piece in the show." In 1947 designer George Nelson convinced Herman Miller to commercially produce the table in limited quantities.
For more information, contact S & S Auction, Inc. at (856) 467-3778 or check the Web site (www.ssauction.com).
Originally published in the January 2013 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2012 Maine Antique Digest
