For the many who work from home on a laptop and are retro addicts, the Italian Orix desk designed by Vittorio Parigi and Nani Prina and manufactured in the 1970s by Molteni & Company, might be an ingenious choice.
Founded by Angelo Molteni in Giussano, near Milan in 1934, the firm is still the cutting-edge furniture designers it was in the 1930s.
Irish decoratives dealer Domhnall Ó Gairbhí, an avid ATG reader, has a cream version of the Orix desk for sale at £950 at the Midcentury Show at Dulwich College in south London on Sunday, March 19, his second time there as a standholder. Made of fibreglass with a chrome base, a central removable hinged glass writing plate and an adjustable lamp which folds down into the desk, this slick piece of design was manufactured in different colourways including the cream version shown here.
It can also be seen in the background at Ó Gairbhí’s gallery area – pictured left – at The Store Yard, an award-winning antiques centre selling furniture and the decorative arts at Portlaoise in Co Laois, an hour out of Dublin.
Ó Gairbhí says his business, Acquired, which also sells online, is going from strength to strength. “There is currently a trend which works very well for us where interior designers and private customers are combining antique country house pieces with 20th century design, ” he said.
Talking about his career, the dealer added: “I have been involved with furniture my whole life. I graduated in furniture manufacture and design in 2001 from Letterfrack, Galway [the National Centre of Excellence for Furniture Design and Wood Technology], and after that worked in New York making and restoring furniture for some of the top interior designers.
“I have always enjoyed collecting 20th century design and about four years ago took the plunge in dealing myself.
“Since then I have built up contacts and clients all over the world for both sourcing and selling the finest in 20th century design.”
