Toys
Item 987V: six rapid deployment emergency shredders featuring MicroCut technology and dual feed.
✦ In 2005 ENT International filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 in the US and progressively closed or sold all of its international operations. The quick collapse of the company led to a fire-sale of most of ENT's assets. In the months following the Chapter 11 filing, the liquidation team split the enormous sale across a number of auction dealers.
These are some of the objects1 listed in the the bankruptcy auction held in 2005 at Square Mile Auctions. The small London-based auction house was hired late in the process to deal with low to mid-valued items and leftovers from previous auctions. Among the large number of typical corporate assets, the SMA dealers discovered a few unique items that are now highly valued collectibles.
This unabridged reprint of the SMA auction catalogue from that time2 provides a detailed insight into the inner workings of one of the world's largest corporations. It brings the keen observer one step closer to unravelling the secrets behind one the biggest bankruptcies in recent times.
- Royal College of Art,
- 2009
Above: Square Mile Auctions' original catalogue from 2005.
Left: Stock performance kinetic picture frame. Lot of 10 picture frames containing a mechanism of 130 threaded steel rods and highly polished steel slits manipulated by the knobs at the bottom of the frame. When adjusted, the slits are meant to illustrate ENT International’s stock performance twice per week over one entire year. The frames are signed and numbered on the back.
3 pairs of custom made Salvatore Ferragamo 6cm high heel shoes size 6. Black patent leather, fine stitching details. High-quality clear leather inner lining. Each left shoe features a retractable electronic key device in the heel. Late entry lot, believed to be part of CFO Sherron Tischler’s personal collection. Two pairs present some traces of usage, the remaining five are in pristine condition. Sold as seen, great collectible item(s).
This lot consists of an off-the-shelf viewfinder, plugged into some sort of digital tuning device with the words FTSE, DAX, HSI, DSM200, PHLX/KBW, MIBTEL, NIKKEI, NYSE, NASDAQ etched on. There is no documentation provided, although it is believed that these devices were secretly owned by a small number of executives and used for monitoring stocks and other financial products too sensitive to be displayed on-screen or retrieved on the company’s computers.
Lot of 30 Careco CC600 narcotic vaporisers featuring biometric identification via an integrated IriScan system. The CC600 was produced sparingly and sold to a very limited number of corporate customers. The double nozzle system is automatically sanitized after each use. The chosen narcotic is easily refilled by removing the front panel which is secured by an electronic lock at the bottom of the casing.
Exhibitions
- RCA Degree Show, 2009
- 100% Design, London, 2009
Press
- We Make Money Not Art, 2009
Aknowledgments
- David Benqué, catalogue graphic design.
- Noam Toran
- Tim Olden
- Molly Anderson, Nokia Design UK
- Danna Hawley, Fabric London Press Office
- Ian Hogart and Pete Smith, SongKick.com
- Richard Moross and Matt Jones
