5.25.2011

$2,516,063.00

That was Phillip de Pury's
haul from today's
"Design"
sale.
They held the preview and the sale at their new 
Midtown digs.
I have to say I was impressed with the space.
I'm a closet Uptown Guy,
so I kinda get off on clean and new sometimes.
Lose the suits, the strollers and the attitude
 and
I could live on the Upper East Side,
fo' realz y'all.

The Crew

Mathieu Matégot
Ceiling Light
1950s
$20-25,000 est
WITHDRAWN

This was one of my favs in the sale, and just as the
auction was about to start,
the auctioneer said it had been withdrawn.
My source said it was because the consigner changed
their mind.... 
Maybe,
but it was a little weird.

Jean Prouvé
Swiveling Office Chair
1951
$40-50,000
SOLD: $86,500

Love the base....

Charlotte Perriand & Jean Prouvé
Free Form Coffee Table
1956
$45-50,000
SOLD: $50,000

Great patina on this one.
Just what you want to see....

Jean Proué
Compass Table
1953
$12-18,000
SOLD: $15,000

I really like the space up there at 450 Park Ave.
(@ 57th Street)
Weird the downtown address is 450 too....
Just noticed that.
(The Aalto chairs passed.)

Bid it up!

This way to the bathroom....
(This Jean Royere chair would have cost you $34,250,
it and it's mate brought $68,500.)

That Mathieu Matégot mirror was pulled too....
Look at those Donald Judd sculptures,
I mean Le Corbusier shelves.

Mathieu Matégot
"Satellite" Ceiling Light
1953
$20-25,000 est
SOLD: $32,500

Jean Royere
"Quilles" Side Tables
1956
$10-15,000 est
SOLD: $35,000

There was some grumbling mumbling
about how old these were....

The vanity set brought $40,000.
It's a look....
(See how I didn't use one bad
baseball joke or metaphor??
Are you proud of me?)

The downstairs viewing area was MOODY,
in a good way.

Richard Tuttle
Dining Table
1992

One last funny story....
I met a gentleman in my store yesterday
and while I was printing a memo for him,
he started looking through
the Phillips catalog that I had out on a table.
He saw the above table and decided he had to have it.
I saw him before the sale and we had a 
nice chat about it.
Afterwards I asked him if he had gotten it,
and he laughed and said 
he wasn't even close,
that it soared from a 15-20,000 estimate
to sell for $62,500.
We exchanged cards, 
and I don't know why I find this so funny,
but he was Carl Bernstein,
yes, that 
Only in NYC....

3 comments:

  1. Ha, great story! And $62,500....wow.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love how Domenico and I are holding up the pink shoes and socks end of the black suit phone bank.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey.. he may be well known, but at the end of the day- he's a journalist. Of course he couldn't afford the table!

    ReplyDelete