John Piper C.H. (British, 1903-1992) Mosaic Coffee Table, circa 1957 107.5 cm. (42 1/4) long
John Piper C.H. (British, 1903-1992)
Mosaic Coffee Table, circa 1957
signed 'John/Piper' (lower right)
ceramic mosaic, painted metal and wood
107.5 cm. (42 1/4) long
Footnotes:
Provenance
The Artist, from whom acquired by the parents of the present owner
Private Collection, U.K.
In 1957 Piper saw another artist Martin Froy working on a mosaic mural at the Kingston workshop of Dennis M. Williams & Co. Dennis Williams was from a lineage of 'Freeman Tilers' and proposed that he and Piper design some tables. The intention was to revive the use of mosaic as a modern decorative art and indeed during the late 1950s and 1960s many new civic and commercial buildings incorporated mosaics as a featured surface especially in the public areas. With Williams' principal assistant, Mrs Grace Grove, vitreous glass, ceramic and porcelain was imported from Italy, Sweden, Spain and India. Some squares were made to Piper's specification e.g. a rich monastral blue and a delicate pale yellow. Thus Piper had the technical and workshop facilities to interpret directly his designs into mosaic patterns. He worked closely with setting out the individual tesserae in all the ventures.
In 1957 Piper's main pre-occupation with stained glass design fed directly into how he set about displaying the mosaic colours onto the table tops. Namely he favoured using distinct colours in bold abstracted patterns but with something of the effect of age and softening of ancient stained glass by partial interspersing and graduating of colour boundaries. Piper created four main scales of mosaic tables, another similar example of the present lot is illustrated in Frances Spalding's John Piper, Myfanwy Piper: Lives in Art, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009, colour plate 53. Another example on this scale is also in the collection of Pallant House, Chichester.
This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: AR
AR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.
Sale price
Estimate
Reserve
Time, Location
Auction House
John Piper C.H. (British, 1903-1992)
Mosaic Coffee Table, circa 1957
signed 'John/Piper' (lower right)
ceramic mosaic, painted metal and wood
107.5 cm. (42 1/4) long
Footnotes:
Provenance
The Artist, from whom acquired by the parents of the present owner
Private Collection, U.K.
In 1957 Piper saw another artist Martin Froy working on a mosaic mural at the Kingston workshop of Dennis M. Williams & Co. Dennis Williams was from a lineage of 'Freeman Tilers' and proposed that he and Piper design some tables. The intention was to revive the use of mosaic as a modern decorative art and indeed during the late 1950s and 1960s many new civic and commercial buildings incorporated mosaics as a featured surface especially in the public areas. With Williams' principal assistant, Mrs Grace Grove, vitreous glass, ceramic and porcelain was imported from Italy, Sweden, Spain and India. Some squares were made to Piper's specification e.g. a rich monastral blue and a delicate pale yellow. Thus Piper had the technical and workshop facilities to interpret directly his designs into mosaic patterns. He worked closely with setting out the individual tesserae in all the ventures.
In 1957 Piper's main pre-occupation with stained glass design fed directly into how he set about displaying the mosaic colours onto the table tops. Namely he favoured using distinct colours in bold abstracted patterns but with something of the effect of age and softening of ancient stained glass by partial interspersing and graduating of colour boundaries. Piper created four main scales of mosaic tables, another similar example of the present lot is illustrated in Frances Spalding's John Piper, Myfanwy Piper: Lives in Art, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009, colour plate 53. Another example on this scale is also in the collection of Pallant House, Chichester.
This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: AR
AR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.
Sale price
Estimate
Reserve
Time, Location
Auction House
