CHICAGO, IL.- Rago Wright's October 7 presentations of The Private Collection of Gertrud & Otto Natzler and Post War & Contemporary Ceramics together realized more than $2 million in sales, reinforcing the auction house’s position as a leading international marketplace for important works in clay. Enthusiastic bidding was seen throughout the day, with numerous lots realizing two and three times their low estimates and, in several cases, considerably more, demonstrating sustained collector demand across generations of modern and contemporary ceramic art.
The day began with The Private Collection of Gertrud & Otto Natzler, an intimate offering of more than 50 works retained by the artists for their own collection. The sale achieved white-glove results for a total of $440,064, selling 297% by value. Most works had never previously appeared on the open market, offering collectors an exceptional opportunity to acquire ceramics with direct and deeply personal provenance. Among the standouts were the Natzlers’ Bulbous vase form with slight lip, which soared beyond its $7,000-10,000 estimate to realize $40,960, as well as the Conical vase form with flange, which inspired competitive bidding for a selling price of $20,480, far beyond its $2,500–3,500 estimate, reflecting continued appreciation for the couple’s influential practice.
Strong results continued in Post War & Contemporary Ceramics, which brought together major examples by many of the artists who transformed clay into an essential medium of postwar art. Realizing a total of $1,596,038, the sale achieved 150% by value with a 92% sell-through rate. Toshiko Takaezu was a particular focus of bidding, and the sale's top-selling lot was the artist's Closed Form (with rattle) from the Collection of Ron Petty, realizing $115,200—nearly three times the low estimate of $40,000. The sale's top ten results include:
• Toshiko Takaezu, Closed Form (with rattle), est. $40,000–60,000 | result: $115,200
• Toshiko Takaezu, Alchemy Gold Closed Form (with rattle), est. $50,000–75,000 | result: $108,800
• Toshiko Takaezu, Makaha Blue Closed Form, est. $45,000–65,000 | result: $96,000
• Toshiko Takaezu, Closed Form, est. $80,000–120,000 | result: $96,000
• Doyle Lane, Faceted vase, est. $10,000–15,000 | result: $58,880
• Jun Kaneko, Untitled (Dango), est. $50,000–70,000 | result: $57,600
• Peter Voulkos, Django, est. $50,000–75,000 | result: $44,800
• Alev Ebzziya Siesbye, Bowl, est. $10,000–15,000 | result: $38,400
• Ruth Duckworth, Untitled, est. $8,000–10,000 | result: $38,400
• Alev Ebzziya Siesbye, Bowl, est. $7,000–9,000 | result: $30,720
Taken together, these results demonstrate both the expanding market for ceramic art and Rago Wright’s longstanding commitment to the field. From the Natzlers’ pioneering modernism to the radical sculptural practices of Takaezu, Voulkos, Duckworth, and their successors, the October 7 sales traced the extraordinary evolution of clay across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, while the depth of bidding confirmed that ceramics increasingly command the attention, scholarship, and prices traditionally associated with the broader fine art market.
