In early October, when Christie’s auctioned a private furniture collection, murmurs peaked around the assortment that was commissioned by the late Maharaja Yashwant Rao Holkar II for Manik Bagh palace in Indore. The 20 items included works of designers from the 1930s, all renowned for their experiments with unorthodox forms and materials—an alpaca-silver sculptural floor lamp and red faux-leather armchairs by Eckart Muthesius; lush carpets (uniquely designed for each room of the palace) by Ivan da Silva Bruhns; a personal desk in Makassar ebony and chrome by Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann; a psyche mirror in duraluminium and glass, wrought by a collaboration between Louis Sognot and Charlotte Alix.
The collection, both sophisticated and revolutionary, is a compelling summary of the contours and palette that defined early European modernism of the 1930s. According to Sonja Ganne, chairwoman of design at Christie’s, the hypermodern choices of the maharaja hinted at the visionary that he was. “It’s quite moving to think about the very young gentlemen that the maharaja of Indore and Eckart Muthesius were when they conceived the palace,” says Ganne. “In 1930, the maharaja was only 22 and Eckart Muthesius was only 26. It is quite incredible that they were able to build this masterpiece with such a high level of mastery and maturity.”
Between 1931 and ’32, Muthesius organized a “preview” of the contents of Manik Bagh palace in Berlin, demonstrating how important the ensemble was to him. Dazzling craftsmanship aside, the incredibly inventive concepts that mark the collection deserve a separate round of applause. For instance, the lamp built into the backrest of the faux-leather chair by Muthesius seems as relevant now as it did a century ago. In many ways, this collection speaks as much about prodigy as it does about privilege.
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