NEW YORK, NY.- Works emerging from exceptional private collections propelled Sotheby’s December auctions of 20th Century Design to an outstanding total of $21.3 million, surpassing the three auctions’ combined high estimate of $17.7 million. More than 250 lots were sold across the two days of sales – a look at some of the highlights by auction follows:

THE JON STRYKER COLLECTION: MASTERWORKS OF EUROPEAN MODERNISM
Auction Total $7.4 Million
85.4% Sold by Lot
Intense competition for works from The Jon Stryker Collection drove the sale far above its $4.1 million high estimate to achieve $7.4 million. The sale offered extraordinary European and Scandinavian 20th Century Design and Photography from the Manhattan apartment of the famed architect and philanthropist.

The auction was led by Paul Dupré-Lafon’s Low Table circa 1950, which fetched $749,000 – over six times the high estimate of $120,000. All eight works in the collection by Alberto and Diego Giacometti were sold for a total of $2.2 million, led by Diego’s L'Arbre de Vie sculpture that more than tripled its high estimate to sell for $701,000. And An Important and Rare Cabinet by Alexandre Noll achieved $425,000, exceeding its high estimate of $250,000.

TIFFANY: DREAMING IN GLASS
Auction Total $6.6 Million
87.8% Sold by Lot
The December sale offered one of the most important collections of Tiffany lamps to appear at auction in over a decade. The group was led by two successively numbered “Wisteria” Table Lamps circa 1901–05 – an extraordinary, nearly-identical pair whose harmonious coloration suggests that they were cut from the same sheets of glass. The lamps sold to the same private American collector for $1,205,000 and $1,145,000 respectively (estimates $700,000 / 1 million each). The private collection totaled $4.5 million, also including a “Dragonfly” Table Lamp circa 1910 that sold for $965,000 (estimate $600/900,000).

IMPORTANT 20TH CENTURY DESIGN
Auction Total $7.3 Million
The various-owner Design auction opened with a private collection of iconic French Art Deco and Postwar Design from an interior created by internationally-acclaimed architect Alan Wanzenberg. That collection totaled $3,310,625, far exceeding its high estimate of $1.9 million. The group was led by An Important Desk by Eugène Printz circa 1932 that sold for $845,000 (estimate $250/350,000), as well as Jean Royère’s Rare "Etoile" Sideboard that fetched $581,000 – more than three times its high estimate. Outside of the private collection, bidders eagerly vied for Louis Majorelle’s Art Nouveau "Nénuphars" Chair, which sold for $653,000 above a high estimate of $50,000.