Historically, the Decorative Arts have been relegated to a secondary role, overshadowed by the Fine Arts: painting, sculpture and architecture. From Setdart, we want to vindicate his figure for his leading role in the best collections of the international scene.

Porcelain, glass, hard stones, wood, silver, tortoiseshell, bronze and mechanical devices. The decorative arts have the virtue of bringing together a multitude of disparate techniques and materials under their shelter, which is perhaps part of their charm and, at the same time, complexity. The furniture is a good example of this, although each one of the genres that make up this drawer has been a victim of the trends and fashions of the moment.

The lot 35376062, an exceptional piece of furniture, tells us about the close relationship between the Netherlands and England, with the characteristic curly moldings in ebony wood, rosewood and tortoiseshell veneer from the international trade routes, or the low chambrana in HThe onion legs, typical of Flemish and Dutch furniture, are on onion legs. In the 18th century Paris became the epicenter of European taste, dictating the stylistic guidelines. The lot 35238691, Louis XV commode, uses plumeado with violet wood veneer to give dynamism to the front and sides, accompanied, as usual, by gilded bronze on handles, keyhole escutcheons and cul-de-lampe.

Another important piece, and not only because it is made of rhodonite and nephrite, is the lot 35376064, the tazza It is a vivid reflection, somewhat late, of the influence that the rediscovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the eighteenth century had on the history of art. Possibly made at the Imperial Hard Stone Factory in Ekaterinburg, in the Ural Mountains, it must have been created to decorate one of the royal rooms of the Romanovs.

In France, both porcelain and glass were of particular importance. The first was due to the success of the Royal Manufacture of Sèvres, which, thanks to its refinement and good taste, prevailed over other national manufactures. In its shadow, and with the desire to supply the bourgeois population with Sèvres-style parts, a multitude of factories were born, not without quality, which historiography has baptized as Old Paris. The lot 35310155 is a magnificent example of what they were capable of achieving in the early 19th century. As for glass, Baccarat is, with the permission of Saint-Louis, the undisputed protagonist. The lot 35310158 reveals the novel technique of opalescent glass, so in vogue in the 19th century and created by adding phosphates or oxides during the fusing process. This is a pair of vases or “vases de fantasie”, with a specific chronology from 1845 to 1870.

The irruption of urban culture was undoubtedly one of the great revolutions of the twentieth century which, as could not be otherwise, found in art one of its greatest expressions. In this sense, the emergence of skateborading as one of the quintessential symbols of this sociocultural movement also became a means of expression for many of the great artists and designers who captained urban art.

But what are the origins of this fruitful union between the world of skateboarding and the world of art?

In 1963, in the city of Malibu, the first skateboard in history was created, but it would not be until the 80’s when it caused a real furor among the new generations of the time, giving rise to a new phenomenon: ‘skaters’. Since then, skateboarding has become a philosophy of life for many and is still today one of the key elements of urban culture.

On the other hand, the success of Street art or urban art, despite emerging simultaneously with skateboarding during the 60’s, did not reach its peak until the 90’s, when thanks to artists like Keith Haring or Basquiat it became a worldwide phenomenon that has gone down in history as one of the fundamental artistic revolutions of the twentieth century.

It should therefore come as no surprise that the underground and rebellious nature of skateboarding ended up being creatively linked to street art. Some were punished for expressing their art on walls, others for using street furniture as they pleased… Without doubt, the combination of the two gave rise to one of the quintessential expressions of countercultural movements.

The auction that will take place on March 4 represents a real novelty in the national market. The collection of more than 100 screen-printed skateboards in collaboration with some of the most acclaimed contemporary artists, skateboarders and designers is arguably the most comprehensive set ever assembled by a national auction house.

The value of these boards created in collaboration with the most iconic brands in the sector lies in the limited editions, many of which have been so successful that they have sold out, as well as in the design and illustrations that, decorating their underside, have become the perfect channel through which to spread the message that the street art launched to the world.

Among the boards up for bidding we find authentic gems such as the one designed by Kate Haring in collaboration with the New York City Skateboards brand in 1986 or the collaborations of great artists such as Damien Hirst, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Felipe Pantone, Hiroshi, Murakami, Merilyn Minter or Pure Evil.

In fact, the fever of the silkscreened skateboards led the great figures of this authentic philosophy of life as Bucky Lasek Tom Knox, Jason Dill or Jake Donnelly to design their own boards with legendary brands such as Santa Cruz, Supreme Element or The skateroom.

In short, this auction that rescues the essence of the heyday of skateboarding shows us the impact it has achieved in the art and luxury market, but also how in recent times and thanks to this type of artistic expressions art has been democratized to become more accessible to the general public and new collectors.