An out-of-this-world UFO light suspension by the late Danish designer Verner Panton (est. €35,000-45,000, or $48,000-61,000) and a 1950s sideboard co-designed by Jean Prouvé and Charlotte Perriand (est. €15,000-20,000, or $20,000-27,000) figure among the highlights of an upcoming 20th-century design sale at Paris’s Piasa Rive Gauche slated for January 21. The auction, titled “20th Century Design & Selected Items from a Paris Interior,” will feature a total of 233 lots by masters of modern and contemporary design, such as Ado Chale, César, Charlotte Perriand, Marc Newson, Le Corbusier, and Line Vautrin. The total pre-sale estimate is set at approximately €800,000, or about $1.1 million at current exchange rates.
Gems in the opening section, “Contents of a Paris Interior,” include an armchair by Secession founder Josef Hoffmann dated 1899; a striking Cible (Target) table co-designed by Jean Prouvé and Jules Leleu and produced by Les ateliers de Jean Prouvé in around 1935 (est. €12,000-18,000, or $16,000-24,000); a Flag Halyard chair by Hans J. Wegner (est. €8,000-12,000, or $11,000-16,000); and a pair of bronze pedestals, circa 1980, by Ado Chale (est. €25,000- 35,000, or $34,000-48,000), consigned for sale directly from the Belgian designer’s studio. Also going under the hammer will be a selection of modern drawings by Yves Tanguy, Jules Lismonde, Charles Lapicque, Olivier Debré, Guillaume Corneille, and Hans Arp, along with Dadaist charcoal drawings by Victor Brauner (est. €2,000-4,000, or $2,700-5,400).
Highlights from the modern and contemporary design section include a Soleil à pointes (Sunburst) mirror by Vautrin, circa 1955 (est. €10,000-15,000, or $14,000-20,000); and a trio of brass and resin coffee tables by Armand Jonckers (est. between €12,000-18,000, or $16,000-24,000, and €8,000-12,000, or $11,000-16,000). A table by Jonckers sold by the auction house last June set a personal record for the artist, generating €43,900, or about $60,000. Click on this link to view the catalogue.
The lots will be exhibited at the auction house’s Espace Rive Gauche site on Rue du Bac from January 16 through 21, with an installation by young interior designer Sandra Benhamou. Future design sales at the house include “Scandinavian Design vs. American vs. Brazilian” on March 10, and a major private collection of Italian design works on April 15.
