Memphis and more

Focusing on post-World War II design, the Chicago-based Wright auction house is offering more than 150 home furnishing items from a private collection in a sale separate from its annual spring Modern Design event. The catalog for “Utopia: Lost and Found” is a roll call of eminent Italian designers -- Ettore Sottsass, Gaetano Pesce, Gio Ponti and Joe Colombo -- and a valuable visual history of design from the often wacky Memphis style of the 1970s and ‘80s to contemporary “blobjects” by Marc Newson. Items include Gianni Ruffi’s La Cova, below, a nest made of scraps of felt and fabrics over sculpted foam with an egg-shaped pillow. The 1973 design, one of six known originals, is valued at $50,000 to $70,000. The April 1 auction begins at 10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. For more information, call (312) 563-0020 or visit www.wright20.com.