Ettore Sottsass
"Monument of Shit to the Fatherland" Totem

"Monument of Shit to the Fatherland" Totem

© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

"Monument of Shit to the Fatherland" Totem
"Monument of Shit to the Fatherland" Totem
DesignerItalian, born Austria, 1917–2007
MakerItalian, established 1921
CultureItalian
Titles
  • "Monument of Shit to the Fatherland" Totem
Date1966
MediumConcrete and ceramic
DimensionsOverall: 102 1/2 × 19 3/4 in. (260.4 × 50.2 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment
Object number2010.2166
Current Location
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building
Gallery 310
On view

Explore Further

Object Type
Provenance[Friedman Benda Gallery, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2010.
Exhibition HistoryEttore Sottsass. Design Museum, Ghent, October 2007 - January 2008.
Ettore Sottsass: Work in Progress. The Design Museum, London, March - June 2007.
Menhir, Ziggurat, Stupas, Hydrants & Gas Pumps. Enzo Sperone, Milan, April, 1967.

Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
.A: No visible inscriptions
.B: No visible inscriptions
.C: Inscribed upside-down in the clay on the upper interior rim: "U.19"
.D: Inscribed in the clay in the interior near the small opening: "4"
.E: Inscribed in the clay in the interior: "U.19"
.F: Inscribed in the clay in the interior: "U.19"
.G: No visible inscriptions
.H: (obscured by remnants of label)
.I: Inscribed in the clay in the interior: "U.19"
.J: Inscribed in the clay in the interior: "U.19"
.K: Inscribed in the clay in the interior: "U.19"

No visible signature.
.A: No visible markings
.B: Printed on a white label in black in the interior, with the numerals handwritten in purple marker: "CERAMIC / 8 (in purple marker) / 2 (in purple marker) PIECE / to mount from / below starting / with piece n [wavy equals sign with a dot above it] 1 / ettore sottsass 1966"
.C: Printed on a white label in black in the interior, with the numerals handwritten in purple marker: "CERAMIC / 8 (in purple marker) / 3 (in purple marker) PIECE / to mount from / below starting / with piece n [wavy equals sign with a dot above it] 1 / ettore sottsass 1966"
.D: Printed on a white label in black in the interior, with the numerals handwritten in purple marker: "CERAMIC / 8 (in purple marker) / 4 (in purple marker) PIECE / to mount from / below starting / with piece n [wavy equals sign with a dot above it] 1 / ettore sottsass 1966"
.E: Printed on a white label in black in the interior, with the numerals handwritten in purple marker: "CERAMIC / 8 (in purple marker) / 7 (in purple marker) PIECE / to mount from / below starting / with piece n [wavy equals sign with a dot above it] 1 / ettore sottsass 1966"
.F: None
.G: Printed on a white label in black in the interior, with the numerals handwritten in purple marker: "CERAMIC / 8 / 5 (in purple marker) PIECE / to mount from / below starting / with piece n [wavy equals sign with a dot above it] 1 / ettore sottsass 1966"
.H: Printed on a white label in black in the interior, with the numerals handwritten in purple marker: "CERAMIC / / 6 (in purple marker) PIECE / to mount from / below starting / with piece n [wavy equals sign with a dot above it] 1 / ettore sottsass 1966"
.I: None
.J: None
.K: None

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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