An impressive and rare Tiffany and Co. bronze table, designed by Edward C. Moore, circa 1875, will highlight the June 4 Signature® 20th Century Design Auction at Heritage Auction Galleries’ Slocum Street Annex in the red hot Design District of Downtown Dallas. It carries a pre-sale estimate of $40,000-$60,000.
“This Japanesque table, designed by Moore in the late 1800s – probably as an exhibition piece for Tiffany’s display at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876 – is to my knowledge his largest known work,” said renowned Tiffany expert John Loring, former Creative Director for Tiffany and author of several books about the legendary maker. “It bears all the signature design elements of the early Japanesque style of the 1870s before he turned to mixed metals in preparation for the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1878.”
“It was there, in Paris, that Moore’s Japanesque silver won the grand prize,” said Christina Japp, Director of 20th Century Design at Heritage. “Moore was Tiffany & Co’s head designer from 1853 until 1891, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest decorative artists in American history.”
While the bronze table may be the marquee lot of the auction, there are also several important Tiffany Studios lamps in the auction, along with a significant selection of Tiffany Art Glass, all of which have added considerable buzz to the auction among the already excited collectors of the Tiffany name:
Among the impressive selection of Tiffany lamps is a Tiffany Studios Drop head Dragonfly leaded glass and bronze table lamp, circa 1910, a stunner of a piece carrying a pre-sale estimate of $100,000-150,000; few American lamps are as iconic as the Tiffany Studios’ “Tulip” Leaded Glass and Bronze table lamp, circa 1910, included in this auction. It is expected to bring between $125,000-150,000. Rounding out the Tiffany Studios lamp offerings is a “Dragonfly” leaded glass and bronze table lamp, ca. 1910, which ranks among the most sought after of all Tiffany & Co designs. It carries a pre-sale estimate of $180,000-240,000.
“While the Tiffany offerings are extraordinary, they are just the beginning of the great array of fine 20th Century design we’ve assembled for this auction,” said Japp. “There are interesting works of Austrian Design by artists like Josef Hoffmann, Otto Prutscher, Karl Klaus and Gustav Gurschner, as well as German Design, including an extremely rare bench by Henry van de Velde, circa 1906-1908, created for the foyer of the Hohenhof, Van de Velde’s famous Gesamtwerk commissioned by banker Karl Ernst Osthaus.
Other highlights of the auction include a wide selection of American Modernism, with work by names like George Nakashima, Harry Bertoia, KEM Weber, Gilbert Rohde and Donald Deskey as well as examples of American Arts & Crafts up through Contemporary design.
Further highlights of the auction include, but are not limited to:
Ludwig Mies van Der Rohe for Gebrüder Thonet:
A Chromium Plated Steel and Canvas Armchair, model MR-534, circa 1927. Provenance: Bart van der Leck, Utrecht, Netherlands. Estimate: $8,000 – $12,000.
Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann:
A Burled Amboyna Two-Door Cabinet with Gilt Bronze Mounts, circa 1925, branded verso: (B) twice, Ruhlmann three times. Provenance: Macklowe Gallery-Modernism, New York; Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Manzarek.
Estimate: $120,000 – $180,000.
Jean Dunand:
A rare Eggshell and Lacquer Vase, circa 1930, not seen at auction in several years. Impressed on base: JEAN DUNAND. Provenance: DeLorenzo Gallery, New York; Private collection, Colorado, 1996-2009.
Estimate: $70,000-90,000
George Washington Maher:
An Oak and Leather Upholstered “Rockledge Chair”, circa 1911-1912, provenance: Ernest L. and Grace King residence, Homer, Minnesota. In 1912, George Washington Maher designed Rockledge, a summer residence near Homer, Minnesota, for E.L. King. Sited just beneath a cliff along the Mississippi River, Rockledge is considered the finest residence of Maher’s career and a perfect example of his motif-rhythm theory of architectural design. Examples of artworks from Rockledge are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Minnesota Historical Society, the Newark Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Wolfsonian, Miami Beach, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, and the St. Louis Art Museum.
Estimate: $20,000 – $30,000.
Several works by Jean Prouvé:
“Aile d’Avion” Desk, circa 1950, an Enameled Steel, Oak, and Terrazzo Desk, manufactured by Les Ateliers Jean Prouvé.
Estimate: $35,000-45,000
Forrest “Frosty” Myers:
“Pandora’s Sister,” a powder coated aluminum and coiled aluminum wire chair, 1991, inscribed: FM91 Forrest Myers.
Estimate: $15,000-20,000
Ettore Sottsass:
“Mobile Giallo,” a burlwood lacquered oak and gilt wood cupboard from the “Bharista” Collection, designed 1988.
Estimate: $15,000-20,000
For more information on this auction, to read detailed descriptions of each lot and to download color, fully-enlargeable color images, go online to www.HA.com/5021.
To reserve your copy of any Heritage auction catalog, please contact Client Services at 1-800-872-6467, ext. 1150, or visit www.HA.com/Catalog to order by email.