The opening of this week's Sculpture Objects and Functional Art Fair(SOFA) packed the Park Avenue Armory with dealers, collectors, and contemporary design and decorative art by some of the world's most esteemed craftspeople. With a buoyant crowd of 2,500 — a full 300 more than last year’s record-breaking turnout — the aisles teemed with booths manned by 58 dealers from 11 countries, who will be selling their wares through this Monday.

Among the celebrated talents whose work is on view were Lino Tagliapietra, the masterful Italian glassblower, who was represented at the stand of New York’s Heller Gallery; woodworker George Nakashima, whose coveted furniture pieces were brought by Philadelphia’s Moderne Gallery; and Ruth Duckworth, the German-born sculptor, whose late works are available from dealer Theo Burger.

Work by less established artists is also available, making the fair a great opportunity to see the latest in contemporary design and to discover new practitioners. Many of these pieces are highly affordable.

London dealer Joanna Bird has brought pieces by well-known and emerging artists working in clay, silver, and glass. A bowl by Chien-Wei Chang, made of silver with felt lacing, is priced at $6000; its title is Wounded Soul in Healing Process. An unusual white teapot by Christa Assad, priced at $1,800, was another strong piece. Sold at the opening for $1,800, it was part of a thematic show, “Reobjectification,” in which artists created new designs riffing on existing objects.

New York dealer Joan Mirviss brought 23 pieces of Japanese ceramics by Koike Shoko, one of the leading female ceramicists to come out of postwar Japan, known for her shell-inspired spiral clay forms. Within a half hour of the show’s opening, 22 of them had been sold.

Among other opening-night sales, Clare Beck of London's Adrian Sassoon sold two large porcelain columns by Felicity Aylieff for $41,000 each, and two glass panels by Udo Zembok, one for $12,400 and one for $15,750. Heller Gallery sold two glass sculptures by Tagliapetra, one from his “Venice” series for $41,000 and one from his “Madras” series for $39,000. At the booth of Philadelphia's Snyderman Works, a pair of woven tapestry gloves by Jon Eric Riis — a fiber artist and dealer in Asian textiles — sold for $6,000.

One of the most attractive features of SOFA is that many of the artists whose work is on view are present during fair hours and willing to chat with visitors — others are scheduled to give talks at the fair — providing the unique opportunity to meet the them before taking the plunge on a purchase.

But the work is draw enough in its own right. Near the entrance to the fair, Rhode Island–based artist Wendy Wahls Branches —  made from discarded pages of the Encyclopedia Britannica — provides an eye-pleasing jolt of recognition between form and origin. Then, at Sienna Galleries, Seth Papec has a riveting piece of jewelry made from 22-karat gold, silver, felt, acrylic, glass, steel, and ebony that can be separated into a necklace, a ring, and a bracelet. Such inventive objects give contemporary design an impression of limitless possibilities.