Meet the Specialist

What do you do at Bonhams?

I am the Director of the Design Department in London where we hold two sales a year focused on modern and contemporary design. Our next sale is taking place on 25 May at New Bond Street.

What inspired you to go into the auction world? 

The fact that design and art can enhance and sublimate an environment – especially when they are juxtaposed and create a dialogue. I believe as William Morris famously stated: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”. Design should strongly communicate to you personally and psychologically, evincing quality, intrigue, and beauty. Living with design is a performance –chairs, tables, lighting, sculpture and paintings eloquently communicate in unison, defining space, harmonizing and enhancing your environment.

What was your first job?

I actually started my career in the 20th Century British Art Department at Bonhams so this does feel very much like coming home. I was with the Phillips Design Department for many years, initially cataloguing and researching – an invaluable way of gaining a real knowledge of pre-war and post-war design. Latterly, as an International Specialist at Phillips, I worked in London, New York, and started Design in Hong Kong, I have also worked on important projects with the Design Museum, Architectural Association, London Design Festival, and the V&A.

 Name one of your triumphs.

I orchestrated the first Phillips online only Design sale in New York; successfully sold part of The Fina Gomez Collection – a collection of Ceramics, including Lucie Rie, Hans Coper; and a sell-out single owner collection of twenty-three works by R. W. Martin & Brothers in New York, The thing I’m most proud of, however, has been helping to develop the international market for Nordic design, including the sale of a unique dining table, by Peder Moos, designed for the Villa Aubertin, Rosnæs, Nakskov Fjord, for an auction record of £602,500.

What has changed in the business since you first started? 

Design has always been a global community where the discussion of ideas, solutions, aesthetics and production has been reflected and appreciated. There is an ever-increasing international presence and appreciation for design, and there is a lot of activity from Asia where there is a great interest in acquiring exquisite examples of design works.

What is your strength as a specialist? 

I’m very much an itinerant specialist working for the design departments and auctions of London, New York and Hong Kong so my extensive knowledge of design, which includes British, French, German, Italian, Nordic, Japanese and Contemporary is a real asset. I like to think I have an inspirational approach to the presentation and contextualization of design, which people will find engaging.

What’s exciting you about your next sale?

I'm excited by the entire sale - the second Design auction at New Bond Street - which includes impressive contemporary design works by Studio Job, a unique lamp and ceiling light by Mark Brazier-Jones, works by American designers George Nelson, Vladimir Kagan, Philip Johnson and Richard Kelly. The sale covers everything from the Arts and Crafts Movement to radical post-modern Italian design. From a private collection in Brussels, there is a 'Perished' table, produced in 2006 from an edition of six, which is exquisitely executed by talented craftsmen in Macassar ebony and has laser-cut bird's eye inlays. The inspiration for the series came after visiting the Museum of Natural History in New York.

Do you have a hidden talent?

No, and if I did, I would not tell you as it would no longer be hidden.

Which object has changed your life? 

Tough question, but if I had a gun to my head, I would select the Laputa bed by the renowned Japanese designer Shiro Kuramata. It was his final furniture design and a response to his bedroom brief at the group exhibition Il Dolce Stil Novo della Casa (A Proposal for a New Life), curated by Andrea Branzi, someone else whose work I greatly admire, for Pitti Immagine at the Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 1991. The Laputa bed is named after the flying island in Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. The island has a base made from the mythical material adamantine. Wrapped in the ‘Star Piece’ satin and with a high metallic surface finish, Laputa has an extra-terrestrial appearance as if galvanized in outer space, and, as the artist intended, the elongated form creates a dreamlike sense of levitation.

Marcus McDonald is Director of Design at London, New Bond Street. He can be reached on marcus.mcdonald@bonhams.com