deVeres Art Blog - Art World Musings

THE INTERIORS SALE - A SALE FOR ALL AGES

Posted on Apr 13, 2012

When we came up with the idea of staging The Interiors Auction we wanted to include furniture and Fine Art from all ages and styles. The vital components would be ‘quality’ and ‘condition’. The inclusion of Ib Jorgensen’s collection helped us achieve this with regard the 18th and 19th Century lots. Ib’s eye for style and balance is something that comes across in his collection and I discuss this further in an interview which you can read.

In my twenty years in auctioning furniture and art there has always been a distinct lack of opportunity to sell quality Contemporary furniture. Classic design is hugely popular but the re-sale market is limited. Therefore our objective was to offer a platform for vendors to offer Contemporary works. The reaction to this was very encouraging and we have managed to assemble a catalogue containing high quality works in the all important ‘mint’ condition. From the Art Deco period we are offering a pair of mahogany and velvet fauteuils (lot 139), made by Parisian designer George de Bardyere. These were bought from well know Deco experts Mitofski Antiques. Also purchased from Mitofski Antiques is an Art Deco dining room suite.

Italian designers are also well represented and I was contacted by a client who wished to offer the contents of his Italian villa. Poltrona Frau, deSalto, Molteni & Co along with French designer Ligne Rosset (above), are quality labels on offer in the auction at estimates greatly reduced from their retail prices. After all, this is ‘resale’ as opposed to ‘retail’ and our vendors have taken this advice. What is encouraging is that these lots are all in showroom condition.

Like something from a Bond movie, we have a pair of Eileen Gray ‘LOTA’ sofas, made by the official designer Classicon. I was talking with a journalist who was writing a piece on this auction and I asked her would she feature the sofas on the page. She told me her readers would think that they were from IKEA! I can assure you, IKEA these aren’t. They are wonderful classics, in perfect condition. What’s laughable is that you’d probably spend more on a sofa from IKEA.

The full catalogue is now online and the viewing starts next Friday, with the auction commencing at 2pm on Sunday, 22nd. It is well worth viewing.

 

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