NEW YORK, 1 June 2017 – Sotheby’s is pleased to announce our 6 June auctions of 20th Century Design in New York, featuring: a dedicated sale of diverse masterworks by Tiffany Studios from the Estate of Carol Ferranti; rare and extraordinary objects of Important Design; and a chic collection of timeless works curated by WYETH co-owner John Birch, inspired by the New York gallery’s Sagaponack outpost. The three sales and 300+ lots on offer represent an impeccable breadth of design works spanning the 20th century, with a range of estimates for seasoned and new collectors alike.

Sotheby’s Design exhibitions, displaying all of the works across the three sales, will open to the public this Friday, 2 June in New York.

MASTERWORKS BY TIFFANY STUDIOS FROM THE ESTATE OF A CELEBRATED NEW YORK COLLECTO
Sotheby’s is honored to open our 6 June Design auctions with a superb collection of masterworks by Tiffany Studios from the Estate of Carol Ferranti. Showcasing the firm’s mastery of diverse materials and forms, the works on offer from Ms. Ferranti’s collection encompasses a decade’s worth of sublime treasures, including an exceptionally rare Tiffany “Butterfly” Table Lamp (pictured right, estimate $400/600,000), precious Tiffany enamels and many rarified "fancy goods" never-before seen on the market.

Admired for her ardent dedication and genuine passion for antiques, Ms. Ferranti was part of the earliest generation of Tiffany collectors and spent decades growing what came to be her much-sought-after assemblage of works. Embracing the ‘more is more’ aesthetic, Ms. Ferranti filled the windows of store on the corner of 72nd Street and Madison Avenue – which sat, rather fortuitously, across from where Louis C. Tiffany’s mansion once stood—with jewelry, ceramic and glass vases, shiny cocktail shakers, plastic cigarette holders, and amusing oddities of all sorts. The offering of the Ferranti Collection at auction presents an exciting opportunity to acquire exceptional Tiffany lighting and objects from one of the most thoughtfully composed and highest quality collections to come to market.

RARE OBJECTS OF IMPORTANT DESIGN
Emerging from the esteemed Forbes Collection, the landmark offering of eight adjacent panels from the Grand Salon of the legendary S.S. Normandie leads our afternoon sale of Important Design. Purchased in 1981 by Malcolm Forbes as a wedding gift for his son Robert, the extraordinary Art Deco relics depict part of the Birth of Aphrodite mythological scene, designed by Jean-Théodore Dupas in the 1930s as part of a larger History of Navigation mural for the ocean liners opulent interior. Separate release available.

Amplifying the sale’s Art Deco works on offer are an exquisite “Religieuse” Floor Lamp by Pierre Chareau (pictured right, estimate $400/600,000) – one of the artist’s most iconic pieces of lighting – and a monumental Rare Conference Table by Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann (estimate $150/250,000).

A magnificent suite of Original Illustrations for Die Nibelungen Dem Deutschen Volke (The Nibelungs) by Carl Otto Czeschka (estimate $100/150,000) bolster the sale’s unique works on offer. From the Estate of Carol Ferranti, the suite drawings are part of a larger series of fine graphic illustrations created by important Modern artists in turn of the century Vienna, and convey Franz Keim’s abridged version of the heroic medieval epic. The sixteen illustrations are emboldened by geometric borders and blackletter type, and are regarded among the most important book illustrations ever published in early 20th Century Vienna. Separate release available.

Our sale of Important Design is further distinguished by works from the collection of Jacqueline Fowler, including a Side Chair from the White Bedroom, Hous'hill, Nitshill, Glasgow by Charles Rennie Mackintosh (pictured left, estimate $100/150,000), a number of silver works, once in the collection of Andy Warhol, and a Side Chair designed for the Dining Room of the Sanatorium of Purkersdorf, Austria (estimate $20/30,000) by Josef Hoffman. Stunning examples of American Arts & Craft by Frank Lloyd Wright, Greene and Greene, Charles Rohlfs and Elizabeth Copeland complete the offerings from Ms. Fowler’s collection.

Other highlights include Claude Lalanne’s larger-than-life, unique Dimetrodon II topiary planter (pictured right, estimate $500/700,000), a “Flying Carpet” Daybed by Maria Pergay (estimate $80/120,000), striking bronze Branch Bookshelf by Joris Laarman, Jeroen Verhoeven’s Lectori Salute (estimate $150/250,000) – a whimsical desk, similar to the artist’s celebrated ‘Cinderella Table’ – and a group of George Nakashima furniture, from the Estate of Lionel and Charlotte Moskowitz (estimates from $3/50,000).

An icon of the Dutch De Stijl movement, Gerrit Thomas Rietveld’s “Roodblauwe Stoel” (pictured left, estimate $150/200,000) rounds out the Important Design session. Dating back to circa 1923-1929, the present work is a rare and early version of Rietveld’s chairs; less than half of the estimated 40 pre-war models feature the artist’s signature red-blue color combination.

WYETH FOUNDER CURATES A TIMELESS HAMPTONS-INSPIRED COLLECTION
WYETH: The Art of Timeless Design will conclude our 6 June Design auctions, with a curated collection of chic and sophisticated postwar design inspired by the iconic New York gallery’s Sagaponack location. Curated by WYETH’s visionary founder John Birch, the sale encompasses 150 pieces of furniture, lighting and design objects from across the 20th century, reflecting Birch’s celebrated design philosophy.