Design @ Sotheby's London

Design
Sotheby's London
15 November 2016

The market for important works of design has gone from strength to strength in recent months, with outstanding results at Sotheby’s design sales in New York and Paris in 2016. The May sale at Sotheby’s Paris, led by 18 works by Alberto and Diego Giacometti, achieved €7.8 million (est. £4.1-5.7m), the highest-ever total for a Design auction in France. The second-edition of a dedicated Design sale for London is underpinned by pioneering works of Post-war Scandinavian, Italian, French, American and Contemporary Design, including superb examples by Studio Job, Nacho Carbonell, Gio Ponti, Arne Jacobsen and Gerrit Rietveld. The sale takes place just days ahead of the landmark opening of a major new home for London’s Design Museum, further evidence of the city’s evergrowing status as an influential hub for the international design scene.

Highlights

Arne Jacobsen, Desk, 1952

Stainless steel, lacquered Cuban mahogany, leather, ebony

Estimate: £40,000-60,000

Designed the same year as his iconic ‘Ant’ chair, the present model, along with a low table and armchair, were made for the offices of the American-Scandinavian Foundation in New York. Although intended for American export, the present lot has remained in Denmark from the time of its execution. Only the third time that this model has ever come to auction, this piece belonged to a collector who was close friends with Jacobsen. At the time of acquiring the desk circa 1953, the original owner resided in a home designed by Jacobsen himself, located in the Danish town of Hellerup, close to the architect's home.

Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, ‘Zig Zag’ Chair, 1939

Oak, brass

Estimate: £15,000-20,000

This is a rare and early example of Rietveld’s iconic ‘Zig Zag’ chair was produced by Gerard van de Groenekan in 1939, four years after the first model was made. Rietveld, renowned for his ‘Red and Blue Chair’ and the ‘Schröder’ house, was a leading figure in the artistic movement known as De Stijl. This particular chair has remained with the same family since its production and comes with a signed certificate from Gerard van de Groenekan.

Ico Parisi, Monumental Bookcase, circa 1955

Rosewood, glass, enamelled copper

Estimate: £20,000-30,000

This monumental bookcase by the Italian architect and designer Ico Parisi was created in collaboration with the renowned enameller Paolo de Poli, who produced the handles. Over the course of his 50-year career, Parisi - who considered himself a ‘Renaissance’ artist - mastered a wide variety of discipline, including architecture, design, painting, and photography.

Peder Moos, Daybed, circa 1944

Pine with Alpaca skin upholstery

Estimate: £8,000-12,000

This bed is one of five pieces on offer designed by Danish master cabinet maker Peder Moos for the Østrupgaard manor, Denmark, between 1944 and 1945.

During World War II, Østrupgaard manor was used as a hideout from the Gestapo; in this period, Moos produced around 20 pieces for the estate. Using the humble materials available on-site including pine, teak and beech, the results are deceptively simple and beautifully understated. Displaying a high degree of craftsmanship and fine attention to detail, each unique example bears testament to one of the greatest Danish cabinet makers of the 20th Century.

Hans Coper, Monumental ‘Spade Form’ Vase, circa 1970

Glazed stoneware

Estimate: £50,000-70,000

Hans Coper, Large ‘Disc Form’ Vase, circa 1965

Glazed stoneware

Estimate £35,000-45,000

Hans Coper (1920–1981), the German-born studio potter, who fled from Nazi Germany for Britain in 1939, revolutionised British ceramics.

These two large scale vases, ‘Spade Form’, created circa 1977, and ‘Disc Form’ made circa 1965, are hugely rare and important examples of Coper’s work, and very rarely seen on the market.

Gabriella Crespi, ‘Gothic’ Mirrored Cabinet, circa 1977

Brass, mirrored glass

Estimate: £6,000-8,000

This rare mirrored cabinet by Gabriella Crespi has a functioning storage compartment and drawer below. Considered by many to be one of the greatest Italian designers of the 1960’s and 70’s, Crespi was influenced early on in her career by Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Fontana Arte, Low Table, Model No. 1774, 1959

Lacquered metal, brass, mirrored convex glass, glass

Estimate: £40,000-60,000

This table, with a striking mirrored glass top, is one of the most iconic works produced by the Milanese firm Fontana Arte. It was created in the late 50’s under the direction of Max Ingrand – a French master glazier and decorator, renowned for his stained-glass church windows.

Angelo Lelii, 9 Arm Wall/Ceiling Light, circa 1950

Brass, frosted glass

Estimate: £12,000-18,000

These rare nine arm lights by Angelo Lelii can be mounted on the ceiling or wall, and come with confirmation of authenticity from Arredoluce. Founded by Lelii in 1947, Arredoluce boasts collaborations with renowned designers such as Gio Ponti, Ettore Sottsass and the Castiglioni brothers.

T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Five ‘Klismos’ Chairs, circa 1965

Greek walnut, leather cord

Estimate: £7,000-10,000

Offered from a private collection acquired directly from the producer in the 1960s, the Klismos chairs by the British designer T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings take their inspiration directly from ancient Greek examples. Works by this maker are among the most soughtafter by interior designers; a set of six ‘Klismos’ chairs by Robsjohn-Gibbings, estimated at €8,000-12,000, sold for €73,499 at Sotheby’s Paris in 2014.

Andrea Branzi,

‘Piccolo Albero’ Bookcase, 2013

Polished stainless steel, beech

Estimate: £20,000-30,000

This intriguing work is the last of only six examples ever produced. A world record for a piece by Branzi was set in May 2015, when the same model sold for €81,000 at Sotheby’s in Paris.

Ron Arad, ‘Loop Loop’ Chair, designed 1992

Polished woven bronze

Estimate: £50,000-70,000

This fun and playful work - one of the Ron Arad’s most iconic designs – was produced by the Gallery Mourmans in a rare bronze edition. It is one of a number of collaborations between Israel-born industrial designer Arad and the Dutch gallerist Ernest Mourmans, with other examples including the ‘Thumbprint Chair’.

Nacho Carbonell, ‘Evolution’ Bench, 2008

Recycled paper, iron, metal wire

Estimate: £12,000-18,000

The first example from an edition of five, this bench by the Spanish contemporary designer Nacho Carbonell allows one to seek solitude from the outside world. “Living in a time where we are saturated by information at a frenetic rhythm, I wanted to create a refuge were you can escape...” says Carbonell.

Terence Woodgate and John Barnard, Prototype

‘Surface Table’, 2008

Lacquered unidirectional carbon fibre, steel

Estimate: £40,000-60,000

Only two examples (both prototypes) of this monumental, six metre-long table were ever produced. This is the sole remaining example, as the first prototype was discarded by Established & Sons. Despite its slight frame, this table is in fact strong enough to support a car’s weight.

Gio Ponti, Wall-Mounted Chest, circa 1959

Elm, brass

Estimate: £15,000-20,000

This wall-mounted chest embodies Italian designer Gio Ponti’s flair for quirky, asymmetrical patterning. One of the most influential designers of the 20th century, Ponti’s remarkable output spanned architecture, industrial design, art, and even publishing; his creations put Italy in the spotlight as a global design centre. This chest is one of 10 works by Ponti in the sale.

Amanda Levete and Future Systems, ‘West’

Bench, from the ‘Around the Corner’

Collection, 2008

Walnut

Estimate: £70,000-100,000

This elegant bench was designed by British designer Amanda Levete and Future Systems, and produced by London-based Established & Sons. With its fluid and interwoven form, reminiscent of the infinity symbol, this piece appears to defy gravity. Works from the ‘Around the Corner’ series were designed to create a spatial relationship between the corners of a room and the pieces, as Levete was interested in filling the “lost spaces” created by corners.

Marc Newson, ‘Big Lathed Table’, 2006

Carrara marble

Estimate: £70,000-90,000

This simple yet powerful table was carved from a single block of prized Carrara marble and produced by the Gagosian Gallery. Australianborn Newson’s pieces are characterised by smooth geometric lines, strength, and rounded edges.

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Arts of the Islamic World @ Sotheby's London

Arts of the Islamic World auction
Sotheby's London
19 October 2016

Sotheby’s Arts of the Islamic World auction on 19 October 2016 will present rare and exquisite objects that tell the story of over a thousand years of artistic exchange and influence in the Islamic world.

This October’s sale will open with a selection of fifty manuscripts and calligraphies from the renowned collection of the late Jafar Ghazi. Each of these works bears witness to the high esteem in which calligraphy was held in Turkey, the Middle East and Persia from the medieval period up until the end of the Ottoman era. Further highlights include a beautiful turquoise-set and enamelled necklace from North India, known as ‘The Palmerston Necklace’, exemplifying the high quality craftsmanship of Indian jewellers in the nineteenth century; a silver-inlaid tray stand from Mamluk Egypt typifying the calligraphic monumentality so favoured by high-ranking Mamluk patrons and a rare painting depicting the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I by the school of Veronese, circa 1580.

Arts of the Islamic World is one of four sales this October celebrating interwoven artistic traditions Art of the Middle East and India. The week of exhibitions and auctions will also include the bi-annual sale of 20th Century Art: Middle East, Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art and the prestigious Khosrovani-Diba Collection, which comprises a selection of important Indian miniature paintings.

Highlights

A portrait of Sultan Bayezid I, School of Veronese, Italy,

circa 1580 (est. £150,000-200,000)

Photo courtesy of Sotheby's

Sultan Bayezid I (r.1389-1402), also known as Yildirım ('The Thunderbolt'), was the fourth ruler of the Ottoman Empire. During his reign, he expanded his empire into the Balkans and Anatolia, defeating a Christian army to secure his position in the region. His attempt to further increase Ottoman prestige by engaging in the Battle of Ankara led to his demise following his defeat in 1402 at the hands of Timur’s forces. This portrait of the Sultan, depicted in three-quarter view looking over his shoulder and wearing a large turban and richly embroidered cloak, was directly influenced by a painting of Paolo Veronese’s portrait of Sultan Bayezid housed in the Collection Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich. The discovery of the present painting is important as it re-emphasises the significance of Veronese’s original series of fourteen portraits of Ottoman Sultans, all now in Munich, which inspired the creation of at least three, if not more, subsequent sets which were painted between the late sixteenth to nineteenth century.

PROPERTY OF THE LATE JAFAR GHAZI

Sa'adi (d.1292 AD), Kulliyat, signed by Na’im al-Din al-Katib, Persia, Timurid,

dated 890 AH/1486 AD and 899 AH/1494 (est. £80,000-120,000)

Photo courtesy of Sotheby's

The sale will open with a selection of fifty manuscripts and calligraphies from the well-known collection of the late Jafar Ghazi. Each of these works bears witness to the high esteem in which calligraphy was held in Turkey, the Middle East and Persia from the medieval period up until the end of the Ottoman era. A highlight of this group is a superb Timurid manuscript of Sa’adi’s Kulliyat, in almost pristine condition, complete with fine, crisp illumination and tooled and filigree-work binding. The manuscript includes Sa’adi’s entire work with the addition of the preface by ‘Ali ibn Bistun. Na’im al-Din, who worked in Shiraz, copied different parts of the Kulliyyat at different times and that it took him at least nine years to complete this manuscript.

A rare openwork silver cooling vessel (karlik), with the tughra of Abdülhamid II

(r.1876-1909) and glass interior, Turkey, 19th century (est. 40,000—60,000)

Photo courtesy of Sotheby's

This rare silver cooling vessel or karlik was produced during the reign of Abdülhamid II (r.1876–1909), the last Ottoman sultan to exert effective authority before the rise of the Young Turk revolutionaries. Only a handful of these silver cooling vessels survive, of which this particular karlik is unique in containing a glass cooling vessel within the silver exterior. Liquid was kept cool by means of snow contained in a small compartment of the glass vessel. The presence of this glass vessel gave the Ottoman craftsman more freedom in the design of the silver exterior, allowing him to create an intricate pierced floral pattern, another feature unique to this karlik.

A rare Nasrid or post-Nasrid chair, Andalusia,

late 15th/16th century (est. £200,000—300,000)

Photo courtesy of Sotheby's

The Nasrid Dynasty ruled Granada and the territory of al-Andalus for over two hundred years and oversaw a splendid artistic patronage that is still hugely admired today. Expanding on a tradition inherited from the Almohad dynasty of North Africa, the Nasrids developed a sophisticated visual language based on complex geometric designs. Designed with curving legs and armrests, this imposing chair derives its shape from ancient Roman 'Sella Curulis', throne-like seats reserved for government dignitaries, which spread to the Near and Middle East. The technique used to decorate these chairs, including the present example, is typically Nasrid, and is exemplary of the luxurious micromosaic furniture that flourished in Granada at the time. Chairs from the Nasrid period are extremely rare, particularly as their popularity meant that they continued to be copied into the nineteenth century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds six examples in its collection, all attributed to circa 1500, and each with a repeat ivory-inset design of geometric stellar compositions .

A Mamluk silver-inlaid brass tray stand, Egypt,

14th-century (est. £150,000-200,000)

Photo courtesy of Sotheby's

When Andalusian historian Ibn Khaldun first arrived in Cairo, the capital city of the Mamluks, in 1382 AD, he described the city as ‘the centre of the universe and the garden of the world’. Not only were the monumental mosques and palaces impressive architecturally, but they also housed vast collections of wealthy and generous patrons.

A brass tray stand with silver-inlaid decoration from Mamluk Egypt typifies the calligraphic monumentality so favoured by high-ranking Mamluk patrons. This likely belonged to a highly placed official at the Mamluk court – its beautiful thuluth inscription heaping praise on its patron - and is one of a few dozen that have survived to the present day. Its form and design proved so popular that porcelain imitations have been found as far afield as China, made perhaps to evoke the splendour of the distant Mamluk court. Further examples are in the British Museum, London, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

An Ottoman sabre (Karabela) with silver-gilt mounts set

with turquoise and gold-inlaid jade panels, Turkey,

second half 17th-century (est. £30,000-50,000)

Photo courtesy of Sotheby's

This exquisite karabela, Ottoman-made for a Polish audience, is a unique illustration of the fascinating szlachta culture that straddled East and West and drew from the rich artistic traditions of both.

A richly-decorated ceremonial Karabela was a highly-treasured gift among members of the Polish nobility or szlachta. The prestige of the weapon was closely tied to the culture and ideology of Sarmatism, which held that the people of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were descended from the ancient people who inhabited the steppes north of the Black Sea in Roman times.

Many members of the szlachta considered the Ottoman Turks and Crimean Tatars, also of nomadic descent, their peers, even if they were bitter enemies on the battlefield. Thus their arms and armour were modelled on the curved swords and scale armour of the Turks. This example hails from the collection of Karel Javůrek (1815 – 1909), a known academic painter from Poland.

A turquoise-set and enamelled gold necklace, North India,

19th century, (Est. £10,000—15,000)

Photo courtesy of Sotheby's

Sumptuous yet restrained in colour and design, this necklace exemplifies the elegance of nineteenth-century Indian jewellery. Passed down since the nineteenth century through the Cecil family, this necklace is referred to as the ‘Palmerston' necklace as according to family oral tradition it was gifted by the 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784-1865) to an ancestor in the nineteenth century. Mounted entirely with turquoise stones within gold settings, the underside of this necklace reveals rich green, red and white enamel tones and detailed floral motifs typical of Mughal ornamentation. The turquoise itself most probably came from a Persian mine, and it is extremely rare to see it used exclusively on Indian jewels, who usually favour colourful combinations of stones. This may be an indication of the influence of English taste in the Subcontinent and was possibly originally created as a private commission.

A fine illuminated Qur'an, copied by Suleyman al-Uskudari, Turkey, Ottoman,

dated 1087 AH/1676 AD (est. £120,000—150,000)

Photo courtesy of Sotheby's

Suleyma Uskudari (d.circa 1686) studied under Mehmed Efendi of Belgrade, and went on to teach calligraphy at the Topkapi Palace. A further Qur'an, written a year earlier than the present example, is in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Istanbul.

A gem-set and enamelled agate box, India,

19th-century (est. £30,000-50,000)

Photo courtesy of Sotheby's

Exemplifying the high quality craftsmanship hailing from India, this opulent box combines the inclusion of colourful gemstones set into floral patterns using fine gold wires. The technique for juxtaposing semiprecious stones into others, such as agate, reached its zenith under Mughal rule and this trend continued into the 19th-century.

For more information visit: http://www.sothebys.com/MiddleEastIndia

Sotheby’s Turkish Contemporary Art Sale 2011

Sotheby’s Next Annual Turkish Contemporary Art Sale to take place on 7 April, 2011

 

MUBIN ORHON, Untitled, oil on canvas, 1977, 130 x 97cm.
Estimate: £50,000 - 70,000
Image courtesy of Sotheby's

 

Following the huge successes achieved by Sotheby’s in the field of Turkish Contemporary Art since pioneering international auctions in this collecting category in 2009, Sotheby’s confirm that its next sale of Turkish Contemporary Art will take place in London on 7 April, 2011.

Among the modern and contemporary highlights already consigned for sale is Mubin Orhon’s 1977 oil on canvas Untitled which is estimated at £50,000-70,000.

ELIF BAYOGLU Appointed Head of Sale

Sotheby’s also announce that Elif Bayoglu, who joined the company in 2008 and has played an instrumental role in each of Sotheby’s auctions  in this increasingly important field, has been appointed Head of Sale. Elif Bayoglu will continue to be supported by Dalya Islam, Sotheby’s Consultant in Modern and Contemporary Turkish, Arab and Iranian Art, Oya Delahaye, Head of Sotheby’s Turkish Office, and Edward Gibbs, Senior Director and Head of Sotheby’s Middle East, India and Turkey Department.

Commenting on Elf Bayoglu’s appointment, Edward Gibbs said:  “We are delighted that Elif has taken on responsibility as Head of Sale for our auctions of Turkish Contemporary Art. Sotheby’s auctions in this field are an extremely important part of the company’s business and we are very pleased that Elif will now play an even more central role in developing this collecting field at Sotheby’s.”