LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. — Modern design, Twentieth Century pottery and contemporary glass rode the paddles to the top of the block at Rago Auction’s six-section sale, which spanned the January 19-21 weekend. Finishing at $137,500 as the top lot of the sale was a 1968 Paul Evans sculpture front cabinet with welded, forged, torch-cut and polychromed steel under a slate top. Making $93,750 was a “Mesa” coffee table from T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, which proves time and again to be the designers most enduring and high-priced legacy. Early Twentieth Century California pottery took a spotlight in the ceramics section, with a 6 ¼ inch high Frederick H. Rhead vase with stylized flowers finishing at $93,750. Contemporaries Dale Chihuly and Albert Paley, the latter with a section devoted entirely to works from the archives of the American sculptor, both faired well. A Chihuly “Pacific Haven” chandelier, circa 2001 and 91 inches high, finished at $75,000, while an abstract red painted steel sculpture from Paley, “Harlequin,” finished as his top lot at $68,750.

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