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"Carlton" Room Divider

Designer Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria
Manufacturer Memphis Milano Italian
1981
Not on view
The totemic Carlton room divider is a Memphis icon. The piece calls into question conventional furniture forms by combining a space divider, bookcase, and chest of drawers. Intended for the higher end of the market and finely handcrafted, it is made of medium-density fiberboard (MDF) and cheap plastic laminate, a subversion of high and low. The vivid colors and seemingly random interplay of solids and voids suggest avant-garde painting and sculpture. Yet underlying the surface is an entirely logical structural system of real and implied equilateral triangles. While at first sight the slanted shelving seems counterintuitive, it accommodates books which often fall over in upright shelving. The divider is open to interpretation: it may be read variously as a robot greeting the user with open arms, a many-armed Hindu goddess, or even a triumphant man atop a constructed chaos of his own making.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "Carlton" Room Divider
  • Designer: Ettore Sottsass (Italian (born Austria), Innsbruck 1917–2007 Milan)
  • Manufacturer: Memphis Milano
  • Date: 1981
  • Medium: Wood, plastic laminate
  • Dimensions: 76 3/4 × 74 3/4 × 15 3/4 in. (194.9 × 189.9 × 40 cm)
  • Classification: Furniture
  • Credit Line: John C. Waddell Collection, Gift of John C. Waddell, 1997
  • Object Number: 1997.460.1a–d
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Estate of Ettore Sottsass
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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"I Designed It For Pitagora" Desk, Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria, Brier-wood and pear-wood veneers, marble, painted wood
"I Designed It For Pitagora" Desk
Ettore Sottsass
1987
"Murmansk" Fruit Dish, Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria, Silver
"Murmansk" Fruit Dish
Ettore Sottsass
Rossi e Arcandi, Vicenza
1982
"Miss, Don't You Like Caviar?" Armchair, Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria, Wood and chromed steel
"Miss, Don't You Like Caviar?" Armchair
Ettore Sottsass
1987
"The Structures Tremble", Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria, Plastic laminate, composition board, painted steel, rubber, glass
"The Structures Tremble"
Ettore Sottsass
Studio Alchymia
1979
"Ivory" Table, Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria, Formica, wood, glass
"Ivory" Table
Ettore Sottsass
Memphis Milano
1985

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