By Carole Deutsch CHICAGO — Twice a year, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers holds a 20th Century Decorative Arts auction that focuses on decorative arts and designs from the Art Nouveau, Arts and Crafts, Art Deco through Mid-Century Modern periods. The sale is composed strictly of appropriate furniture, studio glass, ceramics and architectural elements from iconic artists, designers, and makers, and is derived from estates, institutions, private collections and museums. Approximately 500 online bidders, 200 phone bidders and many in-house participants competed for 331 lots in the April 15 auction that commanded some exceptional prices. “These sales are highly anticipated by world class collectors,” said Rebecca J. Williams, a 20th century Decorative Arts specialist at Leslie Hindman. “By far the most exciting lot of the auction was the Francois-Xavier Lalanne bronze elephant featured on the front of our catalogue. We have yet to find another example of this sculpture that has sold at auction, and we were most pleased with the price.” The stylized bronze elephant by Francois-Xavier Lalanne (French, 1927-2008) represented a smooth skinned, small eared Indian elephant in the standing position. Lalanne was a sculptor of Jesuit upbringing, who studied drawing, sculpture and painting at the Académie Julian in Paris. He is known for his unique sculptural depictions of animals, which he often translated into functional forms with a highly inventive flair. The bronze was 10 3/4 inches high by 16 3/4 inches long and marked with a Bocquel foundry mark. The front left leg was stamped 2/8 87 and impressed FXL Lalanne; the front right leg was stamped 2/8 86; and the back right leg was stamped 2/8 with partial initial. The work was derived from the Collection of Cecille Pulitzer, St. Louis, Mo., and came from The Greenberg Gallery, St. Louis, Mo., 1986. It opened at $20,000 and finished at $62,500. Highlighting a large group of Tiffany items was a Tiffany Studios Favrile glass and bronze dragonfly table lamp. It had a 20-inch-diameter conical shade with a repeating band of dragonflies that was stamped Tiffany Studios New York and numbered 1495-9. The tapering columnar base had a twisted vine decoration and was raised on a circular cushion base. It was stamped Tiffany Studios New York, numbered 28619, and further marked with the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Co. monogram. The 25 3/4-inch-high piece, which is illustrated in Tiffany: Lamps and Metalware, by Alastair Duncan, p. 152, and The Lamps of Tiffany by Dr. Egon Neustadt, p. 230, sold for $80,500. A price of $68,500 was achieved for a Tiffany Studios Favrile glass Hollyhock hanging conical shade that had a floral decoration throughout, above a banded border. The 28 1/2-inch-diameter shade was stamped Tiffany Studios New York, numbered 625-6, and is picture on page 236 of Tiffany: Lamps and Metalware and pages 122-123 in The Lamps of Tiffany. Architectural elements were represented by two Edgar Brandt gilt bronze balcony grills from the Au Bon Marché staircase, Paris, circa 1923. The architecture of Bon Marché was done by L. A. Boileau and Gustave Eiffel in Paris in 1876 as a retail department store, created in elegant Victorian style. The building was restored in 1923 under the direction of Louis Hippolyte Boileau, with the help of Edgar Brandt and other designers, including Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann and Rene Lalique. It was elaborately appointed and featured a myriad of sprawling Baroque staircases with decorative railings, designed by Ruhlmann and made by Brandt. The grills offered in the sale were rectangular in form with scroll decorations over a foliate cast base and measured 33 3/4 inches high by 25 inches wide. They appear in Edgar Brandt: Master of Art Deco Iron Work, by Joan Kahr, and sold for $16,500. A pair of Edgar Brandt patinated wrought iron and Daum acid etched glass sconces, each of two-light form, had spiral decorated candle arms and inverted bell form shades with allover acid etched decoration. The frames were stamped “E. Brandt” and the shades etched “Daum Nancy” with the Cross of Lorraine, and the pair brought $10,000. Every auction has its sleepers. In this case, a Roycroft hammered copper pen tray that was made in a rectangular form with floral decoration, with the orb and cross mark, sailed past the estimate of $100 to $200. After an opening bid of $50, the modest 8 1/2-inch piece went on to finish at an impressive $13,750. The 20th century Modern collectors had much to appreciate in an American Studio glass sculpture set by Dale Chihuly (born 1941). Each part of the nine-piece Poseidon Blue Persian set had a blue ground and a red lip wrap. One was signed Chihuly and dated 1998. The widest was 21 3/4 inches, and the entire set sold for $17,500. The next Leslie Hindman 20th century Decorative Arts Auction will be Nov. 4. Prices reflect a 25 percent in-house and 26 percent online buyer’s premium. |