Item Description
Few works in contemporary design have changed the conversation as decisively as Maarten Baas’s ‘Smoke’ series. Created while he was still a student at the Design Academy Eindhoven, it launched the career of one of the most original Dutch designers of his generation. Baas took existing pieces of furniture, set them alight with a blowtorch, and then halted the destruction at the precise moment of his choosing. The charred remains were sealed in layers of clear epoxy resin. The result is a piece caught between destruction and preservation, freezing the fire and turning ruin into an object of beauty. This chest of drawers is a rare and unique early example from 2004, the year the series made its mark. Its bombé form is borrowed from the 18th-century commode, a symbol of domestic refinement and French court taste. Here that elegant silhouette is blackened, cracked and deeply textured, the surface resembling crocodile hide or cooled lava. Two graduated drawers are fitted with ormolu handles, whose warm gleam stands out against the dark body. The chest is raised on gracefully swept legs and is signed ‘BAAS’ in white lettering on the shaped apron. The wit of the piece lies in its tension: a delicate Rococo-style form rendered in carbonized wood, a refined shape treated with raw violence, yet finished with the clarity of a glossy, protective coating. It works equally well as a bedside table, a side table in a hallway or as a sculptural accent in a classic or minimalist interior. Baas’s ‘Smoke’ pieces are held in major museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and are regarded as icons of Dutch design of the early 21st century. Provenance: Purchased from Mint, London, in 2004, with the original receipt. Dimensions: Width 64 cm (25.2 in), depth 38 cm (15 in), height 77 cm (30.3 in) Condition: Very good original condition, with the burnt surface and epoxy coating intact. Any minor surface irregularities are inherent to the process of the work.
