NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s announced its dedicated Decorative Arts Week in New York this October. The week of events will consist of four auctions: Collections: Silver, Vertu, and Russian Works of Art, Property from a Distinguished Private Asian Collection, 19th Century Furniture and Decorative Arts, and Collections: European Decorative Arts. Preceding the sales, Sotheby’s will hold a curated exhibition preview through a partnership with renowned interior designer Sara Story and the fabric & furnishings house Brunschwig & Fils. The exhibition will be on view to the public from 10 through 14 October.

The New York exhibition will feature vignettes curated by Sara Story, consisting of works on offer from each of the four sales. Story’s unique aesthetic, with design inspiration drawn from her extensive travels, will be displayed throughout Sotheby’s York Avenue galleries. These styled spaces will display the works in dialogue with each other, and will feature wallcoverings provided by design house Brunschwig & Fils and Sara Story’s eponymous wallpaper collection. Sara Story, founder of Sara Story Design, said: “As a longtime collector and auction enthusiast, I am thrilled to participate in this exciting week at Sotheby’s. It’s a unique opportunity to visualize these pieces – many which come with a story of their own – as they would appear in a home.”

AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS
Collections: Silver, Vertu, and Russian Works of Art 14 October, 10:00AM
Sotheby’s will offer a superb selection of American, European and English silver and vertu and Russian works of art, with an emphasis on private collections, including several single-owner sequences. Silver and vertu highlights include an elegant George III silver Neoclassical soup tureen from 1784 (est. $50/70,000), an Austrian silver centerpiece bowl, designed by Dagobert Peche for the Wiener Werkstätte (est. $12/16,000), and a rare and early Georg Jensen silver nine-light chandelier.

An exceptional silver table lamp by Fabergé workmaster Julius Rappoport (est. $120/180,000) and an extremely rare Imperial presentation yachting prize by the St. Petersburg silversmith Jean-Baptiste Vaillant lead the Russian portion of the sale. Other highlights include splendid icons, porcelain, silver, gilt bronze, and works by Fabergé from prominent private collections, among them legendary collector Millicent Rogers as well as the descendants of Francis Wilkinson Pickens, American ambassador to Russia, and his wife Lucy Holcombe Pickens.

Property from a Distinguished Private Asian Collection 15 October, 10:00AM
This esteemed collection was formed over a period of 50 years and was acquired directly from the most renowned dealers in London and Paris. The over 200 offered eighteenth and nineteenth century pieces are based on French Royal or aristocratic models of the ancient régime, as well as Belle Époque creations from François Linke and Léon Messagé. A notable highlight is a group of approximately 40 timepieces spanning from the early Louis XV period to the late 19th century, and a Louis XV style gilt bronze-mounted kingwood, satiné and floral bois de bout marquetry petite table à écrire (estimate $40/60,000). The silver includes a rare and innovative pair of silver-gilt wine coolers by Paul Storr in the form of overflowing flower baskets, dated 1834.

19th Century Furniture & Decorative Arts 15 October, 2:00PM
This curated sale offers a range of works by premier French cabinetmakers and sculptors. The magnificent companion pair to the Blake of London commodes in the Frick Collection will be offered alongside important creations by François Linke, including the Figaro and Rosine piano and a unique pair of Boulle style marquetry cabinets on stands, after the celebrated model by AndreCharles Boulle for King Louis XIV (estimate $400/600,000).

Other highlights in the auction include a monumental pair of candelabra by Beurdeley and a bust of Actresse Sophie-Alexandrine Croizette by Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, sold by The Los Angeles County Museum of Art to benefit future acquisitions (estimate $8/12,000).

Collections: European Decorative Arts 17 October, 10:00AM
Sotheby’s Collections: European Decorative Arts sale features select groups of English and European furniture, ceramics, and decorative arts from prestigious estates and collectors. Many of the pieces come from residences designed by celebrated decorators. The modern eclectic interiors created by those designers and collectors produced unique juxtapositions between furniture and decorative objects of different periods and styles.

Highlights include A fine and rare George II white marble chimneypiece in the manner of Henry Cheere circa 1740 (estimate $120/180,000) and a A Royal Regency rosewood and mahogany library drum table circa 1815, which has featured in the collections of both the famed Brighton Pavilion and the Buckingham Palace (estimate $15/20,000).

A further highlight is a circa 1720 Louis XIV Gobelins Tapestry depicting 'Summer', from the series 'Les Enfants Jardiniers', (estimate $120/180,000). The concept for the immensely popular tapestry series Les Enfants Jardiniers was conceived by the noted painter Charles Le Brun in 1664, and the present work is an excellent rendition of the theme.