b'123708CARLO BUGATTI (18561940) lectern, circa 188090,ebonised wood, wood, brass, ivory, pewter, vellum, cord, bone,111 x 42.5 x 42.5cmillustrated at pages 34 and 35 of the Bugatti - Carlo, Rembrandt, Ettore, Jean Exhibition Catalogue, with text by Amanda Dunsmore and John Payne, for the National Gallery of Victoria [2009], where it was the first item shown.Private Collection, Melbourne.For most people the world of Bugatti is associated with cars, and the interest in Bugatti cars in Australia has been well documented, with several cars that were purchased new in the 1920s remaining in the country. However, the Bugatti story is a much larger one, encompassing three generations and four remarkable personalities: Carlo, his sons Ettore and Rembrandt, and Ettores son Jean Carlo Bugatti has fascinated scholars and collectors alikeHis work exists at the margins of recognised artistic movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, yet its sheer creativity is an expression of such a free-thinking mind that his work remains inherently fascinating.By 1888 Carlo had established a furniture manufacturing workshop at Via Castelfidardo 6, Milan. His eccentric designs had clearly found a market and in the same year he was exhibiting bedroom furnishings at the Milan Industrial Arts Exhibition and, more significantly, at the Italian Exhibition in Earls Court, London. (Dunsmore & Payne).$20,00030,000 709CARLO BUGATTI (18561940)wall cabinet with letter racks, walnut inlaid with pewter, bone and copper, c1888 - 1890,147cm high, 55cm wide, 27cm deepBugattis ideas were much inspired by Moorish, Islamic and Japanese design and he was no doubt influenced by the general European interest in Orientalism during the late nineteenth century. It is, nevertheless, Bugattis idiosyncratic combination of these cultural styles that make his furniture so unusual. His approach to furniture design was to treat it as an opportunity for artistic creativity. This piece is a mirror-image of the cabinet exhibited by Bugatti at the Italian Exhibition in Earls Court, London in 1888. Bugatti exhibited nine pieces of furniture, to which a full page was devoted in the 7th July 1888 edition of The Queen: The Ladys Newspaper and descriptions of his work appeared in several other publications. The wall cabinet was listed as item number 7. The reviews were overwhelmingly enthusiastic and Bugatti was awarded a diploma of honour, his work also having impressed the organisers of the Exhibition.$4,0007,000 709'