I am undeniably partial: Wendell Castle was the greatest furniture maker of the Twentieth Century. Better than Diego Giacometti, either Lalanne, Esherick, Nakashima, Evans or Noguchi, any of the Italians or the French and certainly the English. Better than Frank Lloyd Wright, Ponti, Mollino, Eileen Gray or any other architect/designer. Better than Majorelle, Stickley, Rholfs and Gallé. Better than the Bauhaus and the Brazilians. Better than the Scandinavians, postmodernists, the democratic designers, the minimalists and the maximalists. You get the picture. And it was because so often Wendell Castle pushed boundaries and reinvented the very meaning of furniture. So it was a sad start to 2018 when Castle passed away January 20, leaving behind a legacy that pulls at the heartstrings of many in the arts — a legacy that proffers reconciliation between art and furniture, unapologetically joining them at the hip so as to say, “Sit. Stay. Now play nice.” Castle’s Environment for Contemplation approaches the block at Phillips December 13 design sale. It was created for a 1970 exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts titled “Contemplation Environments.” When one sits inside Castle’s environment and shuts the door, a pressure plate turns on an occupancy light, signaling to those around that the work is in use — that someone has decided to silence the world outside in favor of introspection inside of a stack-laminated cocoon of contemplation — and to respect their privacy, please. How apt that it approaches the block just in time for the holidays, where we could all use some time to think and to perhaps spare a moment in remembrance of a great.

PHILLIPS

Sale Date: December 13, 2018
Lot 20
Wendell Castle, Environment for Contemplation
Stack-laminated oak, flock-covered fiberglass, flock-covered wood, fabric, 1970.
Estimate: $250/350,000

SWANN

Sale Date: December 13, 2018
Lot 183
Excursion Views of Narragansett Bay and Block Island
Two panoramic chromolithographed scrolls spooled around two pairs of mechanically cranked reels in a glass-paned maple-body view box. Each scroll approximately 3¾ by 30 inches. Providence, R.I.: Excursion View Co, 1878.
Estimate: $6/9,000

SKINNER

Sale Date: December 14, 2018
Lot 95
Annie E. Aldrich and Sarah Tutt Marblehead Pottery Vase
Marblehead, Mass., circa 1909, landscape vase in the style of Arthur Wesley Dow depicting haystacks in a marsh, designed by Annie E. Aldrich and decorated by Sarah Tutt; made by John Swallow, 8½ inches high.
Estimate $10/20,000

HAP MOORE

Sale Date: December 15, 2018
Lot 291
Nineteenth Century Paint-Decorated Chest
Graduated two-over-three-drawer pine chest on bracket base. Came from a Maine family. Probably 1830s.
Estimate: $600-800

DUMOUCHELLES

Sale Date: December 14–16, 2018
Lot 1046
E.B. Tracy, Windsor Brace Back Arm Chair
Circa 1780, stamped on underside of pine seat. E.B. Tracy left General Washington’s continental army to make chairs in Lisbon, Connecticut. Bulbous leg turnings.
Estimate: $1/2,000

MORPHY

Sale Date: December 12, 2018
Lot 44
24K Pure Gold San Miguel Brewing Co Life Size Beer Can
This can was presented by the San Miguel Brewing Co in Hong Kong as an award and is unique. Gross weight is 239.8 dwt.
Estimate: $20/30,000

CHRISTIE’S

Sale Date: December 13, 2018
Lot 9
Tiffany Studios, Pond Lily Table Lamp
Circa 1903, leaded glass, patinated bronze.
Estimate: $1.8/2.5 million

GIANGUAN

Sale Date: December 12, 2018
Lot 180
Qing, Famille-Rose Lime-Turquoise Ground Bottle Vase
The lower bulb sweeping up to a five-spout slender neck. Painted in soft pastel famille-rose enamels with stylized lotus amidst dense scrolling foliate vine intertwined around blossoms. Each spout is encircled with a key-fret border at mouth and shoulder. The base has a classic scroll band. Incised seal mark in the recessed base.
Estimate: $10/15,000

KODNER

Sale Date: December 12, 2018
Lot 43
Antique Diamond, Ruby and 18K Gold Earrings
Approximately 7-carat round-cut diamond, 20-carat oval rose-cut ruby, large pear shape yellow stone and 18K white and yellow gold pendant earrings.
Estimate: $4/6,000