An architect, interior designer and founder of the Memphis Group in 1980, Ettore Sottsass is perhaps best known for his Valentine portable typewriter designed for Olivetti in 1969, with a simplicity that is in contrast to the architectural geometries of his ceramics, which have been on show at Phillips auction house while the space would be otherwise empty between auctions and also links to the successes Phillips have had in auctions with iconic designs from Sottsass.

On entering, the first work is a long horizonal piece, quite architectural in character, leading outwards through the glass windows to the architecture of Mayfair beyond and then round into the main exhibition which has the feel of a smart, stylish and spacious design outlet in the Via Montenapoleone in Milan, Bond Street in London or Park Avenue in New York and where you can admire his ceramics at close proximity.

With work from two private collections curated by historian Fulvio Ferrari and collector Charles Zana in the exhibition ‘Fragile’, this provides a unique grouping of his creative, colourful and architectural ceramic designs, interplaying one against the other, many have a stylistic link to the era of the Memphis Group.