On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Yantra 21
Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria
Not on view
Sottsass designed approximately thirty pieces for the Yantra series, including vases, ashtrays, boxes, and bowls. The Sanskrit term yantra denotes a mystical diagram comprising nine interlocking triangles, a system that informed the repeating geometric forms of these vases. In addition to Indian cultural and religious objects, Sottsass noted that Aztec sculpture and Jazz Age radio receivers also influenced these designs. And as Art Deco enjoyed a resurgence during this time, it is not surprising that zigzag shapes appear in the series. Sottsass hoped to imbue these works with the same meditational effects of the yantras and mandalas he encountered in India.
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