SYDNEY.- Rare furniture, paintings and exotica from the collection of leading American arts and crafts figure Lockwood de Forest II will be auctioned by Bonhams in Sydney this month, having been consigned from the designer’s grandson who lives in Australia.

The renowned New York designer, painter and interior decorator was a prominent member of the 19th-century Aesthetic Movement and famously worked alongside Louis C. Tiffany, creator of the iconic Tiffany stained-glass lamp, in the 1880s.

The Sydney auction includes a vitrine and elm chest designed by de Forest, several of his oil paintings and antiques including an ancient Egyptian bronze, 18th century Indian miniatures and Japanese scrolls.

Bonhams specialist Fiona Frith said the sale was a rare opportunity for collectors to secure furniture designed by de Forest and made at his studios in Ahmedabad, India, by the highly skilled craftsmen he championed throughout his life.

“Very few pieces of de Forest furniture appear at auction these days and we are thrilled to be offering a beautifully carved teak vitrine as well as an elaborately detailed chest,” Ms Frith said.

Bonhams sold a pair of chased brass overlaid teak side chairs designed by de Forest for US$242,500 in New York in 2013. They were purchased by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

The July 13 Sydney sale also features two large oil paintings and 19 oil sketches by de Forest as part of the 64-lot collection.

De Forest’s unique contribution to American decorative arts is currently the subject of an exhibition at New York’s Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, where the designer’s Carnegie Mansion family library is still in situ.

The de Forest auction precedes Bonhams’ 283-lot Asian Art sale, where quality porcelain, bronzes, jades and paintings will be on offer.