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Lot 114 “I have stripped wood into thin layers, manipulating and reconstructing them into free form compositions. I then shape through these layers to reveal not only the honesty of the structure but the sculpted form which is a unique collaboration of man and material. The title derives from the Latin words Enigma ('mystery') and Lignum ('wood'), for me they sum up the series: the mystery of the composition lies in the material.” Joseph Walsh
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE IRISH COLLECTION
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE IRISH COLLECTION
JOSEPH WALSH (B. 1979)
A unique set of ten ‘Enignum I’ chairs, 2008
Closed17 October 2018
Price Realised
GBP 100,000
More Information
Specialist note
Joseph Walsh is acknowledged as one of the world’s leading contemporary designers working with wood. Entirely self-taught, he set up his studio in 1999 and today it brings together over twenty international master craftsmen to produce Joseph’s advanced creations. Fascinated by the endless possibilities of wood, its inherent tactility and strength, and fusing a demand for the highest standard of handcraft with the use of the latest technological advances to bring his designs into a reality, his work seamlessly shifts between art, sculpture and design.
The current set of chairs were the first examples of this model ever made, and also feature subtle design variances which did not follow when the chair was first announced in 2009. Handmade to the highest standards, only 24 side chairs have been produced since that date. The rarity of the present lot is further underlined by the pair of armchairs, which are two of only three ever executed.
A variant suite of ebonised chairs from the Enignum series is in the Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth House. Further works by Joseph Walsh can be found in the Permanent Collections of the Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York.
Christie's would like to thank Lucile Bornand from the Joseph Walsh studio for her assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.
The current set of chairs were the first examples of this model ever made, and also feature subtle design variances which did not follow when the chair was first announced in 2009. Handmade to the highest standards, only 24 side chairs have been produced since that date. The rarity of the present lot is further underlined by the pair of armchairs, which are two of only three ever executed.
A variant suite of ebonised chairs from the Enignum series is in the Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth House. Further works by Joseph Walsh can be found in the Permanent Collections of the Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York.
Christie's would like to thank Lucile Bornand from the Joseph Walsh studio for her assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.