$40,000
Walter Dorwin Teague
Nocturne radio, model 1186
Sparton Corporation USA, 1936 mirrored cobalt glass, satin chrome steel, wood 43¼ w x 14 d x 46 h in (110 x 36 x 117 cm)
result: $40,000
Teague's Nocturne was the most daring of the four radios he designed for the Sparton Corporation.
Standing nearly four feet high, the radio was meant to be the focal point of a hotel lobby or other public space. The high price of the radio, $350 in 1936, combined with the economic depression of time resulted in very few models being sold. The Nocturne radio is an outstanding icon of American art deco.
Sold with partial operating instruction manual.
literature: The Machine Age in America 1918-1941 , Brooklyn Museum of Art, pg. 26 Modernism: Modernist Design 1880-1940 , Duncan, pg. 216
Auctioneer:
Wright Auctions
Date:
2014-12-11
