Though it's not clear to me whether he made it in Peekskill or Paris, the date [1928], size [about 8-in. high], and materials [scraps of steel, burlap, and paper] place Elephant Chair with Lamp squarely in Alexander Calder's early The Circus era. I don't remember it from the Whitney show [which closed yesterday], though; has this thing been seen in the last 30 years?
Too bad the Calder Estate doesn't have quite the one-off elephant merchandising hustle of, say, the Eameses; a kid-sized, limited edition chair from Vitra could be sweet. Instead, you'll have to break out the tin snips. Watch those edges and send photos!
