“I love Chevreuil, Biche et Bambi because it incorporates animals and elements of landscape in a way that is extremely simple, yet crafted so beautifully that they are all sculptures in their own right. They are classical in material and proportion, as delicate as they are bold and strong. And – most importantly – they are completely usable. That to me is the essence of interior design: the marriage of practicality and beauty.”
Tessa Ferguson, Residential Land’s Head of Interior Design.
Swiss sculptor and designer Diego Giacometti made this table in 1975. Thirty-eight years later it sold at auction for $1.72 million. The initial estimate? Between $400,000 and $600,000. His tables characteristically frame a furniture netherworld inhabited by a variety of animals at play in sparse yet meticulously crafted environments.
There is a timelessness to the design; undeniably modern in its clean, simple lines and clear glass top coupled with the almost prehistoric stick-like deers and trees populating the table’s back stretcher that evoke painted cave walls.
Diego was the younger brother and collaborator of celebrated artist Alberto Giacometti, and there is a distinct similarity in their styles – often to the extent that it is difficult to tell their work apart.
For anyone interested in getting up close and personal with the post-impressionist, surrealist style that the Giacomettis cultivated, an exhibition of the elder brother’s work is running at the Tate Modern until September 10th (see video above), alongside a series of talks and curator-led tours.