Auctions and design sales frequently showcase intriguing and eccentric personal collections from imaginative individuals. One such event is set to take place at the Sworders auction rooms in Stansted Mountfitchet, not far from Stansted Airport, on Tuesday, the 9th of July. Items belonging to the estate of the architect and interior designer Max Clendinning (1924-2020), and his life partner, the theatre set designer Ralph Adron (1939-2023), will go under the hammer.
Born and raised in County Armagh, Clendinning’s family were owners of a furniture factory. He received his education at the Belfast College of Art and was an apprentice to a local architect, Henry Lynch-Robinson. Furthermore, he was chosen for a scholarship at the Architectural Association in London, followed by a British Council touring grant to immerse himself in Italian architecture.
Clendinning crossed paths with Adron in 1960 when he was already making a name for himself in his profession, while Adron was studying at the Slade School of Fine Art in London.
While Clendinning is not as widely recognized as his British counterparts like Terence Conran and Robin Day, his distinctive contributions to interior design are significant. His Maxima chairs, which adopted a slot-together design inspired by computer typography, and chairs tailored for the high-end department store Liberty’s in London, stand out as remarkable works. His time with British Railways saw him design the Oxford Road station in Manchester, known for its unique multi-layered roof. In addition, he operated an interior design and furniture studio in London, where he designed custom pieces produced by Adron. His work invariably reflected influences from Italian modernist and postmodernist movements.
Their shared home in Islington bore the marks of their vibrant creativity, with vivid murals adorning ceilings and walls. The dwelling was filled with their avant-garde furniture, embodying a fusion of pop, futuristic space-age, art deco revival, minimalism, and surrealism. Their shared love for collecting unique market stall finds added to the eclectic mix.
They also had a holiday residence in the Italian region of Umbria, and their homes have been featured in publications like Vogue Living, World of Interiors, the New York Times, and the Financial Times. Some of their living spaces were reconstructed for the 2006 retrospective exhibition “Max Clendinning: A Life in Design” held at the Ulster Museum.
Design reporter Dominic Lutyens highlights Clendinning and Adron as influential figures in London’s Swinging Sixties scene, according to a 2022 Design Edit piece. Their distinctive style of free and expressive interior design was incredibly popular throughout the UK during the 1960s and 70s.
The Sworders auction will feature an array of Clendinning’s creations, including his renowned slot-together furniture pieces such as chairs, couches, and tables. Also showcased will be rugs, pottery, and cabinets crafted by Adron, as well as premium tiles (priced between £300-£500/€355-€592 for a pair) made by William De Morgan, a contemporary of William Morris, and painted tiles by Salvador Dalí. A Picasso hand-painted plate is also among the items up for bidding.
Notably, a black lacquered cabinet with a marble surface, custom-built to hold a large Picasso stoneware landscape charger, is also included in the sale. Charger plates, typically larger than dinner plates, are used to shield the table surface from other dishware yet can serve as charming display pieces themselves.
The Sworders auction will also feature work from the influential Finnish designer Alvar Aalto, alongside a myriad of 20th-century Danish tables, chairs, and sideboards. Several decorative items from Austrian-born Italian architect Ettore Sottsass, a member of the post-modern Memphis group in the 1980s, will be presented as well, including a geometrically-shaped red vase (estimated at £2,000-£3,000).
The auction might pique the interest of the National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts and History, featuring a piece by renowned Irish designer Eileen Gray. Her trademark leather chair, the Bibendum (priced between £400-£600), furnished with a barrel bolster back in tan leather on a tubular cantilever stand, is also part of the auction’s offerings.
On July 6th, in the city of Cork, the auction house Lynes & Lynes will be auctioning off the contents of three houses. The selection is intriguing with a variety of old-fashioned clocks and cameras included. Among the clocks on display are two tall, freestanding ones – a James Aickin piece, hailing from around 1780, awaiting complete restoration and valued between €300-€500 and another one from the same century, crafted by Robert Fishbourne, valued between €1,500-€2,000. The collection also features an oak-engraved, functional gramophone with a wooden horn (€300-€500), proving to be a unique timekeeper suitable for decoration in a vintage-styled interior. The assortment of cameras is expected to attract intent interest from serious collectors.
Recently sold items include: a ‘Guinness for Strength’ sculpture of a man carving a stone, sketched by John Gilroy and inspired by Henry Moore, which sold for €3,000; a ‘Lovely Day for Guinness’ poster featuring iconic flying toucans that fetched a price of €180; a bottle of Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion Pessac-Leognan, France 1999 vintage, sold for €3,600; Midleton 30-year-old pure pot still whiskey from Cork that was bought for €3,000; and a painting titled ‘Waiting for the catch’, west of Ireland, made by Markey Robinson, which fetched a price of £4,200.
More information can be obtained from sworder.co.uk and lynesandlynes.com.