From the earliest decorative arts to contemporary design, animals have occupied a curious place within the home. They appear as motifs, ornaments and sculptures, but designers have also transformed them into functional objects: a bird becomes a lamp, a fish a vessel, a hippopotamus a table. In doing so, the boundary between art, design and the natural world becomes wonderfully blurred.

The appeal of animals in design is perhaps unsurprising. Animals possess an immediacy that other decorative motifs lack. We recognise their forms instantly, yet designers can exaggerate, simplify or completely reimagine them. A familiar creature can consequently become humorous, elegant, fantastical or even surreal.

This fascination has a long history. Art Deco designers, for instance, repeatedly turned to the animal kingdom, favouring sleek panthers such as Serge Zelikson’s work, whose form can be reduced to the streamlined geometry of the period. The animal offered a way to combine the organic with the modern, bringing the natural world into interiors increasingly shaped by new materials, technologies and ideas about modern living.

Mark Stoddart's Cheeky Hippo dining table takes this idea in an altogether more playful direction. A sculptural hippopotamus sits beneath a sheet of glass, its head emerging to support the tabletop, transforming an otherwise familiar piece of furniture into something unexpected and wonderfully surreal. It is a particularly charming, and self-referential, example of the way animal-inspired design can introduce humour and personality into an interior.

The importance of animals in design extends across generations and styles. From Diego Giacometti’s birds and animals incorporated into furniture, to Jean Royère’s celebrated Ours Polaire and François-Xavier Lalanne’s sheep and rhinoceroses, designers have repeatedly used the animal form to explore the relationship between sculpture, furniture and the domestic interior.

Ultimately, animals in design is about more than decoration. It brings character, humour and a sense of the unexpected into the home. Whether rendered in glass, bronze or ceramic, these creatures allow us to live alongside an imagined natural world. The result is a domestic menagerie that is as much about fantasy as it is about function.

Auction Highlights

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Auction Details

Wednesday 7 October, 10.30am BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

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Viewing at Dreweatts Newbury: Donnington Priory, RG14 2JE
Saturday 3 October: 10am-3pm
Sunday 4 October: 10am-3pm
Monday 5 October: 10am-4pm
Tuesday 6 October: 10am-4pm

Further information
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