Phillips London has a heavy-hitting design sale on the horizon. Including works by big-name talents like Shiro Kuramata, Maria Pergay, and Gio Ponti, 175 lots of exceptional design will be sold at the auction house’s Design Sale on June 19. A unique Claude Lalanne table will hit the block alongside delicate Lucie Rie ceramics and one of Marc Newson’s outer-space-like Orgone chairs. And for those wondering what the market has to say, design has been selling well this season, even in online-only venues. Below, Domenico Raimondo, a senior international specialist at Phillips, gives AD PRO the rundown on some of the sale’s most exciting design pieces.
Marc Newson, Orgone chair, 1993. Estimate: $244,628–$366,943
As much as any of his designs, Newson’s iconic Orgone chair embodies his quest to achieve a streamlined aesthetic. Newson took more design cues from sports cars than traditional furniture-making to realize this entirely aluminum seat. After years of experimentation with different techniques, he discovered a body shop in London that could bend a single sheet of metal into a seamless object with a hollow interior. “It’s the first time you have this liquidity,” Raimondo says, “and it's particularly nice that is born out of his own passion for car design.”
.jpg)
Claude Lalanne, Unique low table, 1998. Estimate: $305,786–$428,100
This patinated bronze, copper, and glass table by Claude Lalanne was created as a unique piece for a private residence. Raimondo explains that Les Lalanne created some of their best work for private commissions that connected to a place. Since this piece was conceived for a home in the Caribbean, Lalanne integrated tropical birds into the design, with their long tail feathers winding into the structural tabletop. “There is a movement and fluidity to the design, it’s a unique piece, and the color of the pattern is fantastic,” Raimondo says.
Gio Ponti, Rare table lamp, 1930. Estimate: $12,231–$18,347
Multi-hyphenate designer Gio Ponti has an expansive oeuvre. Trained as an architect, he also designed decorative arts of all kinds, plus cars and appliances. This glazed earthenware table lamp, crowned with a paper shade, is a colorful and tactile contribution. (At one point, a matching colorful pleated shade was paired with the base.) “The chromatic element versus this treatment of the surface is really interesting,” Raimondo notes.
%2C-1942.jpg)
Axel Salto, Unique vase in Den Spirende Stil (The Sprouting Style), 1942. Estimate: $36,694–$48,926
Covered in conical tines, or “sprouts,” this stoneware vase stands over 14 inches high. Salto is known for his botanically inspired vessels made in sprouting or budding forms, but Raimondo notes that this design is a unique variation. “Usually the sprouts come out as one, but here they break into two or three forms,” he says, offering the exterior a more spiny appearance. He also notes the green glaze, which has never been found before in any other examples of Salto’s work.
Shiro Kuramata, Miss Blanche chair, 1991. Estimate: $244,628–$366,943
Named for Miss Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire, this chair is one of Kuramata’s most iconic acrylic designs. Synthetic roses float suspended in the clear acrylic throne, which stands on anodized aluminum legs. Though it exhibits the structural angularity typical of Kuramata’s work, the curved armrests and asymmetry of the blooms soften the design. “It is a chair because it’s recognized as such, but it is a sculpture, you know,” Raimondo says. “The flowers float in space.”
Don't miss the AD PRO-exclusive workshop—Photo Finish: How to Showcase Your Project
François-Xavier Lalanne and Kazuhide Takahama, Rhinocéros five-paneled screen from the Ultramobile series, 1971–76. Estimate: $24,463–$36,694
A lacquered plywood screen decorated with one of François-Xavier Lalanne’s signature rhinos, this collaborative project brought together two distinct minds in design. Takahama—a Japanese architect—devised the form and materials of the piece, while Lalanne added his mastery of fauna to the design. Raimondo explains that this project was a part of the Ultramobile series, which was conceived in 1971 by an Italian entrepreneur who tapped notable artists to create innovative furniture. (Other Ultramobile artists include Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray.) Says Raimondo, “It's a piece that’s rare to come by.”
Studio Job (Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel), Jewel safe from the Robber Baron series, 2007. Estimate: $36,708–$61,177
Phillips is offering two pieces from Studio Job’s Robber Baron series, including this clown-topped safe. Cheekily referencing the American industrialists, this high-design collection immediately sold out when it debuted at Design Miami/Basel over a decade ago. “For me, the Robber Baron is the best of Studio Job,” Raimondo says. “What I love about the safe is that the face of the joke is on top. It’s so sharp and disturbing, and it's almost like the joke is on you.”
