Christie’s sale of important Twentieth Century decorative art and design, including property from the collection of Dakis Joannou, totaled $10,737,080. The sale was 62 percent sold by lot and 81 percent sold by value. A table made by Carlo Mollino in 1949 achieved a staggering $3,824,000 against a presale estimate of $150/200,000.

The table was bought by a private collector after a protracted auction battle with another determined bidder in the saleroom at Christie’s Rockefeller. The result almost doubles the previous world auction record of $1,876,000 – also set at Christie’s New York in December 2000 for “Tardieu,” a chromed metal and lacquer desk by Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, designed in 1929.

Joshua Holdeman, head of Twentieth Century decorative art and design, New York, and Philippe Garner, international director of Twentieth Century art and design, said, “Mollino is one of a handful of highly revered designers whose production was relatively limited, and whose pieces inspire a great respect among collectors. This table is an outstanding example of his work, combining visual surprise, great rarity and a fully documented provenance. It has survived in excellent condition. These factors combined to ignite passionate competitive bidding for this iconic masterwork and produced this exemplary result.”

Unique table by Charlotte Perriand, 1927, $192,000.

The Mollino table was part of the collection of DakisJoannou, one of the most celebrated contemporary art collectors inthe world and founder of the Deste Foundation for Contemporary Artin his native Greece.

The sale featured 26 lots from the Joannou collection and together they fetched $4,932,760. Another top furniture highlight was a Jean Royere polar bear suite from 1947, which sold for $363,200.

The first Christie’s auction exclusively devoted to Tiffany for four years, the important Tiffany portion of the sale featured a 50-lot array of carefully selected pieces, including works from an important private European collection. Leading lots included a Laburnum leaded glass and bronze table lamp, Tiffany Studios, circa 1910, which brought $441,600, an Oriental Poppy leaded glass and bronze floor lamp, Tiffany Studios, circa 1910, fetching $352,000; and a Laburnum leaded glass and gilt-bronze table lamp, circa 1910, which realized $329,600.

Rounding out the sale’s top ten lots were: a mahogany table, Andre Arbus, 1940s, $273,600; a Poinsetta leaded glass shade, Tiffany Studios, circa 1910. $262,400; a Rose leaded glass and gilt-bronze table lamp, Tiffany Studios, circa 1910, $262,400; a Nasturtium leaded glass and bronze table lamp, Tiffany Studios, circa 1910, $192,000; and Charlotte Perriand’s unique metal and glass table, 1927, a flawlessly proportioned exercise in Modernist design, $192,000.

Prices reported include buyer’s premium.

For information, 212-636-2000 or www.Christies.com.