Skip to content

Fanciful items designed for a modernist home

Posted in Decorating, furniture, Home, and Unusual

It’s amazing to me that someone would use bones as a material for sculpting. The first use I saw of them were animal bones attached to a straight-back chair. It looked awful.

The latest was a face made of small bones that I encountered at an auction this week. It had bulging blue eyes, small bones forming the face and a fat long bone fashioned as a nose. A single antler protruded from the head.

Artist John Paul Azzopardi from Malta has taken bone sculpture to a higher plane, creating a violin, bust, bat and more. He constructs his works by using the bones of small animals.

The bone sculpture at auction was not the only whimsical piece of artwork I saw. The auction house was selling two stone snakes – one a non-functioning bench – attributed to an artist named Miguel Conti, who appears to be Latin American. The snake sculptures were accompanied by a 1981 exhibition card from a New York gallery of works by Conti.

Nude female bookends made of interlaced wood. $1,300.
Nude female bookends made of interlaced wood. It sold for $1,300. In the background are a painting hanging on a wall and the sockets of two lamps.

There were also bookends in the form of a reclining “nude” female, the body composed of layers of interlaced wood and sliced in the middle like a magician’s assistant. The auction catalog sheet stated that it was signed Branded R.

They all induced me to stop and take a closer look. What do you think of them?

Assembled sculpture of bones and antlers. $80.
Assembled sculpture of bones and antler. $80.

 

Abercrombie and Fitch-style leather pig footstool/ottoman, marked Almazan. $350.
Abercrombie and Fitch-style leather pig footstool/ottoman, marked Almazan. $350.

 

Lucite vanity stool with purple and green cushions by artist Shlomi Haziza. $275.
Acrylic vanity stool with purple and green cushions by artist Shlomi Haziza. $275.

 

Rusted metal birdhouse made in form of human head with tongue extended. $100.
Rusted metal birdhouse made in form of human head with tongue extended. $100.

 

Carved stone snake attributed to artist Miguel Conti, 42" long. $60
Carved stone snake attributed to artist Miguel Conti, 42″ long. $60.

 

Carved stone snake bench attributed to artist Miguel Conti. You can't sit on it because the snake occupies it. It did not sell.
Carved stone snake bench attributed to artist Miguel Conti, 61″ long. You can’t sit on it because the hinged snake occupies it. It did not sell.

 

Black mannequin wearing high heels from Goldsmith-Inc., stands nearly 6 feet tall. $100.
High-gloss black mannequin wearing high heels from Goldsmith-Inc., stands nearly 6 feet tall. $100.

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *