NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s shared highlights from tomorrow’s auctions of Important Design and Tiffany: Dreaming in Glass in New York. Both auctions are on public exhibition today in our York Avenue galleries, alongside the auction A FOCUSED OBSESSION | Modern Italian Glass: The Martin Cohen Collection. Together the three sales will offer more than 300 works.

AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS

André Groult, An Important and Rare Commode, Circa 1926-1928. Estimate $700,000/1 million
The 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris presented a pavilion based on the theme of a French Embassy, with each room of the embassy designed by a different decorative artist. André Groult was in charge of the “Chambre de Madame,” or Lady’s bedroom. The interior he created expressed a sophisticated harmony, combining exquisitely executed pieces and precious materials such as shagreen, ebony, ivory, and amazonite. A few years later and for another client, Groult created another version of this bedroom suite executed entirely in green shagreen. The suite comprised a jewelry cabinet, two armchairs, a desk and two chairs, and the present commode.

Tiffany Studios, "Wisteria" Table Lamp, Circa 1905. Estimate $600/800,000
The “Wisteria” table lamp model, designed by Clara Driscoll in 1901, is an icon both of Tiffany Studios and of American design from the 20th century. With its lush, dripping vines masterfully articulated in nearly 2,000 pieces of individually selected and cut favrile glass, the Wisteria is a triumph of craftsmanship and exemplifies the inspirations and ideals that were most important to Louis C. Tiffany.

Property from an Important European Collection
Carlo Mollino, "Copenhagen" Chair and “Lattes Chair”. Both 1951. Estimates $450/650,000 and $300/500,000 respectively
In his catalogue essay, Fulvio Ferrari, Founder and Curator of the Museo Casa Molino, notes:

In 1953, a young, newlywed Milanese couple— both architects—decided to decorate their home exclusively with furniture designed by peers in their field. During a meeting to discuss participation in the 1954 Triennale di Milano exhibition, Carlo Mollino met the husband of the Milanese couple, who was the exhibition manager… It is unknown how long the discussion between Mollino and his new patron lasted, but it ended with a handshake, and two chairs—the “Copenhagen” and “Lattes” chair—made their way to the Milan apartment… [When the couple moved from Milan to Australia] they decided to give away to their friends the pieces by Zanuso and De Carli, but not their beloved Mollino, which they brought with them to Australia and used every day for sixty years. Rediscovered within the last several years, these works were exhibited for the first time at the Haus der Kunst in Munich in the extensive Carlo Mollino retrospective in 2011.

Tiffany Studios, "The Stream of Life" Window from The First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, Erie, Pennsylvania, 1914. Estimate $250/350,000
In her catalogue essay, Julie L. Sloan, Stained-Glass Consultant, notes: Tiffany Studios is known today for having introduced the landscape as a suitable subject for religious or devotional windows. In 1881, Louis Comfort Tiffany's first landscape, for an unknown church in Newark, New Jersey, appeared as a sketch in “American Stained Glass,” a pivotal three-part article by Roger Riordan in American Art Review. The Studio started making landscape windows in earnest in 1895, when Agnes F. Northrop (1857-1953), Tiffany’s principal floral-window designer, created one for the Church of the Savior (now First Unitarian Church) in Brooklyn, New York. Landscapes would become a hallmark of the Tiffany style, and leave an enduring mark the history of this art form.

The Sobel Collection: Masterworks of French Art Deco
An Important Dining Sweet by Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann
Sotheby’s will present works from the collection of Jonathan Sobel this December, featuring masterworks of French Art Deco by Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Jean Dunand, Ivan da Silva Bruhns and more. The group is led by an incredible dining sweet by Ruhlmann, including An Important and Rare "Redhead" Dining Table, Model 1075 AR and 1305 NR, Variant, of which only eight models are referenced in the Ruhlmann archives (estimate $300/500,000), and Eight "De Becker" Side Chairs, Model 84 NR and Two “Lecannelé” Armchairs, Model 129 NR, Variant (estimate $200/300,000).