A total of €11,6 million for 134 lots sold is the result of the Sotheby's Paris auction.
The sale opened with a group of works from the former collection of the Maharajah of Indore, which brought in over €1 million across eight lots. The top price went to the tilting chaise longue by Charlotte Perriand, Pierre Jeanneret and Le Corbusier, which fetched the world auction record for this model at €405.000. The “Rest Machine”, as it was humorously nicknamed by its designers, is an icon of 120.000th century furniture (estimate: €180.000-80.000). The floor lamp designed by Eckart Muthesius, commissioned by the Maharajah for the interior design of his palace, more than doubled its estimate of €120.000-273.000, selling for €XNUMX.
Ceramics by Henri Simmen and Eugénie O'Kin from the Jules Dormeuil collection exceeded their estimates, fetching a total of over €1 million, with more than five bidders competing for each lot. A new world record was achieved with a capped jar, c. 1925, which raised €181.250 (estimate: €15.000-20.000).
Works of the Art Deco period were highly regarded by international buyers, such as Jean Dunand's screen in lacquered wood and gold leaf with a motif of dogs and a cat playing, c. 1928, which sold for €261.000 (estimate: €150.000-200.000), and a Serpent Mask (Masque aux serpents applique), 1934, by Alberto Giacometti, which sold for €249.000 (estimate: €80.000-120.000).
Diego Giacometti also triumphed with a pair of patinated gilt bronze candle holders 1968-1970 with €657.000, the second highest price in the sale (estimate: €200.000-300.000).
A group of mirrors by Line Vautrin inspired a splendid competition. The most sought-after lot of the five for sale was the crête de coq [cockscomb] mirror, c. 1955, which made €187.500 (estimate €50.000-70.000).
Much interest from the 50s, Charlotte Perriand's Maison du Mexique bookshop fetched €206.250 (estimate: €70.000-100.000), a small red-lacquered totem by Serge Mouille, c. 1962, exceeded its high estimate by much €90.000 (estimate: €30.000-50.000) and Jean Prouvé's Flavigny Table N.504 in wood and lacquered metal, was sold for €150.000 (estimate: €60.000-80.000) .
The results obtained for the pieces by Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, which concluded the auction, are proof of the continued interest of buyers for these artists. The unique drawing board that Karl Lagerfeld commissioned from François-Xavier Lalanne in 1964 fetched the highest price of the sale: €753.000 (estimate: €500.000-700.000). Around 1970, this extraordinary object entered the collection of another aesthete, the interior designer Jacques Grange, and remained in his collection until the 80s.
