Lawrence Laske: Design Studio and Collected Works 
24 October 2014
Lawrence Laske: Design Studio and Collected Works 
135

George Sowden

Untitled

Italy, 1983
offset lithograph on paper 28½ h × 20 w in (72 × 51 cm)
estimate: $1,000–1,500
result: $445
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This work is number sixty-seven from the edition of ninety-nine. Signed, dated and numbered to lower edge: [George J. Sowden Memphis 1983 67/99].
provenance: Donated by the artist to benefit A Brain Tumor and a Dream

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George Sowden b. 1942

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As the only British member of the Memphis group, George Sowden made a name for himself with his structural, colorful and humor-inflected designs and illustrations. Born in Leeds, United Kingdom in 1942, Sowden studied architecture at the Gloucestershire College of Art, graduating in 1968, and moved to Milan in 1970 to work for Sottsass Associati and Olivetti. In Milan, he met his to-be wife, artist and designer Nathalie du Pasquier, who would join Memphis along with Sowden in 1981. That same year, he established his own firm, SowdenDesign, developing products for the likes of Olivetti, Swid Powell, Alessi, Swatch and Pyrex, among others. His diverse designs range from consumer electronics and appliances to wallpaper and textiles. In 1991 he received the Compasso d’Oro Award and established his own name brand, SOWDEN in 2010 to continue designing objects of integrity in his striking and tactile postmodern style.

Auction Results George Sowden

George Sowden

d'Antibes cabinet

estimate: $3,000–5,000

result: $8,438

George Sowden

Oppenheimer table clock from Objects for the Electronic Age

estimate: $2,000–3,000

result: $5,250

George Sowden

d'Antibes cabinet

estimate: $4,000–6,000

result: $3,780

George Sowden

Metropole clock

estimate: $2,000–3,000

result: $3,750

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