Sotheby's New York - 20th Century Design Sales Bring Over $19 Million
A week of 20th Century Design sales at Sotheby’s New York concluded last Thursday, bringing in excess of $19 million. This represents the highest total for a week of Design sales at Sotheby’s New York since December 2003, achieved with less than one third of the total number of lots on offer.
The week was led by a blockbuster sale of a rare interior of furniture by Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, the legendary French Art Deco atelier. The nine masterworks on offer achieved $6,618,100 in total, more than double the pre-sale high estimate of $2.5 million. The salesroom saw spirited bidding from an international audience both in the room and by phone on every lot in the sale.
Competition drove the top lot, one of the two “Ventru” Sideboards offered, to $1,516,100, more than six times the high estimate (pictured right). Together with its pair, which represent numbers two and three of the model produced by the atelier in 1929, the two lots brought $2,688,600. Additional highlights from the sale included a “Vuillerme” Dining Table and a Set of Twelve “Cannelée” Dining Chairs that sold for $986,500 and $886,500 respectively, both more than double their high estimates.
