Modern design retains it popularity, as evidenced by a 1,400-lot auction conducted by Uniques & Antiques on June 16. Featuring an uncataloged session of smalls, collectibles, artwork, lighting, accessories and textiles beginning at 11 am, a cataloged afternoon session featuring the leading designer names and finishing up with an uncataloged furniture session in the evening, the 12-hour event was characterized by “steady bidding, if not as strong as it has been in past sales,” according to owner Kent Jackson. Buyers traveled from New York, Baltimore, Md., Rhode Island and Toronto, Canada †and those who made a point to physically attend the sale were probably glad they did.
That is because a technical glitch with the auction house’s online bidding service provider hampered Internet sales beyond the first 170 or so lots, raising a cautionary flag for those who rely on live Internet bidding and once again underlining the benefit of “being there.”
“It was really frustrating for people on the Internet waiting to bid,” said Jackson. “It was like they were waving their hands, but we couldn’t see them.” As a result, he said, only five percent of the lots offered in the sale were sold to the Internet, although there were about 100 bidders registered online in addition to the 150 numbers given out in the gallery.
The catalog item session of the auction got off to a rousing start when the second lot, an iconic Hans Wegner Papa Bear chair and ottoman footstool, became top lot of the overall sale. Perhaps the world’s favorite lounge chair, it was first designed by Wegner in 1951. The chair got its name after a critic referred to its armrests as “great bear paws embracing you from behind.” In original fabric and marked Made in Denmark, the lot opened at $2,000 with several phone bidders chasing it. It was won, however, by a dealer in the room who paid $4,600.
There were three items vying for second highest lot, each realizing $3,450. One of them was an Edward Wormley for Dunbar sideboard and buffet cabinet in rosewood and mahogany. Featuring four rosewood woven doors and three drawers and raised on legs, the two-tone cabinet was in mint condition, “One of the nicest pieces of Dunbar we have ever sold,” said Jackson, “and everybody wanted it.” Only one could have the 38¼-by-80-by-18-inch piece, however, and that was the successful New York City dealer bidding by phone.
Vintage Italian art glass was another top contender in the form of a Fulvio Bianconi (1915‱996) for Venini Pezzato vase with flared top. With a patchwork of four colors, marked Venini Italia and measuring 10 inches high, the vase was a wonderful example of the designer’s most creative period in the 1950s when he produced such “patches” vases for the Murano firm. An illustrator, Bianconi revived the company’s postwar fortunes, and his “pezzato” vases, with their patterns of irregular squares of color, are much sought after. This sale, going to the Internet, was perhaps the only online bidding success story in the sale before the technical glitch occurred, according to Jackson. “It went immediately to its price,” he said.
Lighting, too, contended for next-to-top honors. In this case, it was the iconic artichoke lamp designed in 1958 by Poul Henningsen for Louis Poulsen. Henningsen designed this pendant lamp for Poulsen, considered to be a classical masterpiece, and it had the rarer copper panels with white undersides. What makes the design so ingenious is the placement of 72 copper “leaves” on 12 circular rows with six blades in each row. Because each row is staggered, all 72 leaves cover for each other, resulting in being able to view the fixture from any angle without being able to see the light source in the center.
“We knew this about the lamp,” said Jackson, “so when we photographed it for the catalog, we lit it up †it gives the room a glow.” Measuring 21 by 23 by 23 inches, the lamp was pursued by three or four phone bidders, but ultimately left with a private collector who Jackson believed came to the sale only for that item.
A Ludwig Sander oil painting on canvas was among the notable artwork in the sale, with “Tioga IX,” 1971, a field of yellows and greens measuring 20 by 22 inches, going to $2,415. Jackson acknowledged that the price for this artist, which the gallery has sold before, represents a 15′5 percent reduction from what his work has brought in past sales. Still, bidding was steady for most lots and plenty of people were buying, he added.
Rounding out the sale’s top ten lots, an Edward Wormley for Dunbar dining table realized $1,093, a Remo Saraceni cloud wall sculpture lamp achieved $920, a George Nakashima Mira stool went to $920, and a Richard Schultz for Knoll petal side table brought $750.
“Even our uncataloged section had interesting items,” said Jackson. A pair of chrome and glass etageres in the style of Milo Baughman sold for $1,725. “These items arrived the day before our auction,” he said. “Our uncataloged section included more than 500 lots of smalls, glassware and furniture.”
Prices reported include the 15 percent buyer’s premium.
While the firm conducts auctions every other Tuesday, its next Modern sale will be in August. For information, www.uniquesandantiques.com or 484-995-3860.
