Christie's Twentieth Century Design Sales Total $19.2 Million

NEW YORK CITY

:On December 7, Christie's New York conducted two separate Twentieth Century decorative art and design sales. A private collection of French midcentury design, a single-owner collection, was sold in the morning, and a various-owner important Twentieth Century decorative art and design auction followed in the afternoon. Combined, the sales totaled $19.2 million.

The private collection of French midcentury design sale totaled $10,132,420, with 99 percent sold by value and 97 percent sold by lot.

Commented Philippe Garner, international head of Twentieth Century decorative art and design, and Josh Holdeman, head of Twentieth Century decorative art and design department, New York: "We are ecstatic that once again a coherent and tightly edited private collection attracted a myriad of bidders from around the world, competing aggressively for high quality pieces in pristine condition."

The sale comprised 227 lots, with the top lot a limed oak and parchment coffee table by Paul Dupré-Lafon, circa 1940, that realized $486,400. By Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, a pair of nickeled-metal sconces, circa 1934, made $408,000, and a palmwood and iron desk by Eugene Printz, circa 1932, sold for $385,600.

Rounding out the sale's top ten lots were Alberto Giacometti, a patinated bronze floor lamp, circa 1934, cast later, $273,600; Alberto Giacometti, "Albatross," a patinated plaster sculpture, 1927, $262,400; Line Vautrin, a talosel resin and glass chandelier, circa 1958, $192,000; Jean-Michel Frank, a pair of upholstered mahogany armchairs, circa 1930, $192,000; Serge Roche, a mirrored glass, plaster and scagliola dining table, 1932, $192,000; Alberto Giacometti, a patinated plaster "Chinese vase," 1937, $192,000; and Diego Giacometti, a pair of patinated bronze appliqués, circa 1968, $186,000.

Property from the estate of Horst P. Horst highlighted important Twentieth Century decorative art and design. The sale totaled $9,093,340, achieving 91 percent sold by value and 79 percent sold by lot.

Of this sale, Garner and Holdeman, said: "We were delighted to see our faith in the solid backbone of Twentieth Century art and design resoundingly endorsed by aggressive bidding on a wide variety of high quality American and European works."

Horst began his career in 1931 at Vogue, after a brief apprenticeship in the architectural practice of Le Courbusier. His innate sense of elegance took him rapidly to the forefront of his profession, and in 1937 he settled into an apartment on Sutton Place South in New York and installed furnishings that constitute an exceptional reflection of Paris in the 1930s.

Christie's offered a selection of 25 lots from these remarkable furnishings that followed Horst to his new home in Oyster Bay, N.Y., after World War II.

The contents included a 1930s oak coiffeuse by Jean-Michel Frank, which brought $307,200, and a painted plaster vase created by Alberto Giacometti for Jean-Michel Frank, circa 1936, which fetched $228,000.

The sale's top lot was a Tiffany Studios Magnolia leaded glass and bronze floor lamp, circa 1910, which achieved $2,032,000, easily eclipsing its high $1.2 million presale estimate.

A Tiffany Studios leaded glass landscape window, circa 1910, sold for $464,000, a Tiffany Studios Oriental Poppy leaded glass and bronze floor lamp, circa 1910, brought $408,000, and a Tiffany Studios Jeweled Dragonfly leaded glass and bronze table lamp, circa 1910, went to the European trade for $374,400.

Rounding out the sale's top ten lots were, by Louis Comfort Tiffany, an important brass-inlaid cherry center table, circa 1883, $262,400; an alabaster and gilt-bronze perfume burner, circa 1925, by Armand Albert Rateau, $262,400; a patinated wrought-iron and glass lantern, circa 1925, by Edgar Brandt, $204,000; and a plaster table lamp, 1930s, by Alberto and Diego Giacometti for Jean-Michel Frank, $156,000.

Prices reported include buyer's premium. For information, www.christies.com or 212-636-200.