Art + Design 
27 January 2022
Art + Design 
106

George Sowden

Oppenheimer table clock from Objects for the Electronic Age

Arc 74
United Kingdom, 1983
enameled steel, ash, glass 16¾ h × 10 w × 3½ d in (43 × 25 × 9 cm)
estimate: $2,000–3,000
result: $5,250
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Foil studio label to reverse ‘Objects for the Electronic Age Milano 1983 George J. Sowden’.
literature: Objects for the Electronic Age, Arc 74 manufacturer's catalog, unpaginated

This work will ship from Wright in Chicago, Illinois.

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The Memphis style consists of broadening the area of style itself, of never being satisfied with what has already been done, and of looking for a new style all the time.

George Sowden

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

d'Antibes cabinet

estimate: $4,000–6,000

result: $3,780

George Sowden

Metropole clock

estimate: $2,000–3,000

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George Sowden

Palace chair

estimate: $700–900

result: $3,000

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