Under the Hammer

Lot 30
A Unique Set of Six Interior Panels from the Restaurant Drouant, circa 1925, by Emile Jacques Ruhlmann

Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann (1879-1933) is arguably the most renowned exponent of the Art Deco style whose creations epitomize the luxurious glamour of the opulent 1920s. His exquisite furniture creations used the finest materials and were made according to the highest standards of craftsmanship, making them available to only the very wealthiest patrons.

This important set of beautiful interior wall panels, made of etched glass with gold and silver leaf, were designed by Ruhlmann for the famed Restaurant Drouant in Paris around 1924. By the 1920s, the Restaurant Drouant had established itself as a center of artistic and intellectual life in Paris and was the scene for the presentation of the important Prix de Goncourt literary prize, awarded there since 1914 to prominent writers including Marcel Proust, Simone de Beauvoir, André Malraux and numerous others.

Aesthetically refined, modern, geometric, and organic, these panels are an exceptional example of Ruhlmann design and are unique in his oeuvre. The few panels remaining in the Drouant are protected as cultural property by the French government - making the present offering a unique opportunity to acquire masterworks by one of the world’s most famous artist designers.

Lot 52
A recently rediscovered highly important bronze table by Diego Giacometti, circa 1965

Diego Giacometti (1902-1985) was the younger brother of fellow sculptor and collaborator Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) and the two worked closely for over forty years.

Diego began his design career as his older brother's assistant, working under Alberto in his Paris studios. Whereas Alberto seemed to find his calling early on, only after a decades-long apprenticeship did Diego unearth an artistic voice that was truly his own. In the mid-1950s, stylistic nuances can be seen cropping up within Diego's work and by the 1960s, Diego's prolific output had developed a signature aesthetic. For the next twenty years he produced his most sophisticated and important work, including the table on offer, which incorporates a sculpture of bat - one of the animal motifs for which Diego became well known.

Known as the “Carcasse à la Chauve-Souris”, the table comes with a certificate of authenticity from Monsieur Denis Vincenot. The original buyer, renowned furniture dealer Robert S. Walker, acquired the table directly from Diego circa 1965. Walker, a contemporary and friend of both Giacometti brothers, is widely credited as the visionary connoisseur and tastemaker that popularized 20th century French decorative arts amongst North America's collecting elite. This recently discovered work was acquired for his sister, Lillian Gahagan Walker, around 1965 making it, possibly, the earliest version of the model.

Lot 55
The Frank Sinatra Screen by Piero Fornasetti, 1953

Piero Fornasetti, one of Italy’s most inventive and enduringly popular twentieth century designers, created this screen for Frank Sinatra in 1953.

On one side, Frank chose Fornasetti’s Gerusalemme design, a stylized rendering of the cityscape of Jerusalem which Fornasetti originally designed in 1949 as wallpaper for his own home. The other side features a series of trompe l’oeil playing cards, known as Carte di Gioco, and both themes represent two of Sinatra’s lifelong interests - as a member of the Rat Pack and star of Ocean’s 11 he remains synonymous with the glamour of old Las Vegas, and was an ardent supporter of Israel and Jewish causes, having toured Israel in 1962.

Lot 84
A Beaded Bird by Birger Kaipiainen

Birger Kaipiainen (1915-1988) was a Finnish ceramicist known for his unique design language that expressed a rich fantasy world.

Kaipiainen's early works were inspired by Byzantine art and he often used a sgraffito technique where the motifs were scratched. In his later production, he often used small ceramic balls, beads, as decorative elements.

Kaipiainen began experimenting with sculptural birds in the late 1950s and he received the Grand Prix at the Triennale in Milan for a sandpiper bird sculpture in 1960. The present bird also incorporates clocks in its chest, each set to 12:15 pm. The story goes back to when Kaipiainen was working at the Roostrand factory and the lunch breaks were permitted at 12:30 pm. He insisted on leaving 15 minutes early which annoyed his director Fredrik Wehtje. After that, he supposedly set all the clocks in the factory to 12:15 pm.

Lot 83
Shiro Kuramata’s Miss Blanche Chair, designed 1988

Shiro Kuramata (1934-1991) is one of Japan’s most important designers of the 20th century and the Miss Blanche chair, named after the character Blanche Dubois from Teneesee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, is his most iconic work.

At once sculpture, furniture, and conceptual art, the chair’s apparent weightlessness, with artificial roses suspended in the acrylic as if gently floating in air, demonstrates Kuramata’s interest in space and illusion and echoes the dream-like life of illusion in which Blanche Dubois herself lives.

One of only 56 similar chairs made, examples can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Vitra Design Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, and several other international institutions.

Modern Decorative Art + Design
takes place on 14 December 2022.
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