John Sandon
Consultant
Lot 70*,TP
A Pair of Bar Stools by Eckart Muthesius (German, 1904-1989) COMMISSIONED BY HH MAHARAJA YESHWANT RAO HOLKAR II, 1930
5 April 2017, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£120,000 - £150,000
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A Pair of Bar Stools by Eckart Muthesius (German, 1904-1989)
COMMISSIONED BY HH MAHARAJA YESHWANT RAO HOLKAR II, 1930
vertical and horizontal tubular chrome plated metal framework; with circular upholstered black leather seats
86cm high, 41cm diam (inc. seat) (2)
vertical and horizontal tubular chrome plated metal framework; with circular upholstered black leather seats
86cm high, 41cm diam (inc. seat) (2)
Footnotes
Provenance;
HH Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Holkar II of Indore, Manik Bagh Palace
His daughter HH Maharani Usha Raje Holkar
Private collection, Mumbai
Literature;
Illustrated on page 98 of "Eckart Muthesius 1930" by Reto Niggl, 1996, Arnoldsche Press.
Related auction history;
Much of the contents of the palace was sold on the 25th May 1980 in Sotheby's 'Mobilier Moderniste; Provenant du Palais Maharaja d'Indore' auction held in Monte Carlo.
The cocktail bar and two other stools were offered on the 22nd November 2011 in Sotheby's 'Decorative Arts of the Twentieth Century, Contemporary and Design' in Paris.
Further information;
In 1930, Eckart Muthesius, son of famous architect Hermann Muthesius, was commissioned to build and furnish the modernist palace 'Manik Bagh' meaning 'Jewel Gardens', to be the family residence of the new Maharaja of Indore, Yeshwant Rao Holkar II.
Prince Yeshwant Rao Holkar was educated in England, first at Christchurch, then at Oxford; he took over the reign of the Indian Maratha state of Indore (population 1.2 million) in May 1930, after his father had abdicated.
An art enthusiast, oriented towards the Western avant-garde in Paris and the rest of Europe, the palace evolved into a work of art... modernism as typified by Muthesius and his client, stands in contrast to the representative, decorative style of the 1920s... representing with elegance and a cool functionalism, the international style of the early 1930s. (http://www.centralexciseindore.nic.in/AboutManik.htm)
Inspired by his father Hermann and his godfather Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Muthesius' design philosophy united elegance, simplicity, and comfort with the emerging Modern style. (Reto Niggl, Eckart Muthesius 1930: The Maharaja's Palace in Indore, Architecture and Interior, Stuttgart, 1996, p. 11).
Manik Bagh aroused much interest in the early 1930s. Photographs of the residence, its architect, and also inhabitants, the young maharaja family were published in the International press. Such journals as Fortune, The Illustrated Times of India, and aside from many others, also the Berliner Illustrate, brought photographic reports on this unusual sovereign seat. (http://www.centralexciseindore.nic.in/AboutManik.htm)