Design legends prevailed at Lyon & Turnbull spring Design series

L-R: Josef Hoffmann coal boxes, £32,500; Lalique Hibou mascot, aka hood ornament, £42,500; Lucie Rie footed bowl, £50,000

L-R: Josef Hoffmann coal boxes, £32,500; Lalique Hibou mascot, £42,500; Lucie Rie footed bowl, £50,000

EDINBURGH, U.K. – From the rarest car mascots to the genius of Josef Hoffmann and Lucie Rie, the Lyon & Turnbull spring Design series excelled. Embracing the best in progressive design movements from the Victorian era to the present day, the trio of live online sales – Design Since 1860 (April 20-21), Lalique (April 28) and Modern Made (April 29) – posted a landmark total of £2 million.

The April 20-21 Design Since 1860 sale was led by a fine example of Viennese Secessionism with the perfect provenance. The pair of white painted pine Kohlenkiste (coal boxes) designed by Josef Hoffmann (Austrian, 1870-1956) for the Wiener Werkstatte came for sale by family descent from Jerome and Margaret Stonborough-Wittgenstein of Berlin. When the couple married in Vienna in 1905, the bride’s father Karl Wittgenstein commissioned the Wiener Werkstatte to furnish the couple’s Berlin apartment and commissioned Gustav Klimt to paint Margaret’s portrait.

Josef Hoffmann white-painted pine coal boxes, £32,500

Josef Hoffmann white-painted pine coal boxes, £32,500

This pair of coal boxes, known from a period photograph, were said to have stood in the servant’s quarters, their stepped facades in bas relief mirroring the striking design of the rest of the suite. Included in the catalog for the 1981 exhibition Josef Hoffmann Architect and Designer 1870-1956 at the Galerie Metropol, New York, these sold far above expectations for £32,500.

Agathon Leonard Art Nouveau white marble bust of a girl, £35,000

Agathon Leonard Art Nouveau white marble bust of a girl, £35,000

An example of exquisite French Art Nouveau, a white marble bust of a girl with flowers in her hair by Agathon Leonard (French, 1841-1923), sold for £35,000. Leonard is best remembered as the sculptor responsible for creating a series of works inspired by the dancer Loie Fuller for the Sevres porcelain factory in 1899. The bust, possibly one of the two works titled Flore des Champs shown at the Salon de la societe nationale des beaux-arts in 1905 and 1907, shares their flowing lines and serenity of pose.

Lalique Hibou owl mascot, aka hood ornament, £42,500

Lalique Hibou owl mascot, aka hood ornament, £42,500

The dedicated Lalique sale on April 28 featured a complete set of car mascots produced by the factory between 1925 and 1931. Amassing a complete collection is hugely difficult. While there are plenty of models, from cockerels to boars and fish, available in the £500-£3,000 price bracket, the full set of 29 recognized designs requires access to several rarities. The British owner of this outstanding collection began acquiring Lalique glass in 2007 and quickly moved to a focused pursuit of car mascots (aka hood ornaments). It took a full decade to complete the collection – something finally achieved a few years ago with the purchase of a Hibou, an elusive design modeled as a wide-eyed owl preparing for flight.

The Hibou mascot was one of the last made by Lalique and was produced in clear and frosted glass in very small numbers in January 1931. This example, the first that Senior Specialist Joy McCall has offered for sale, sold at £42,500.

 Lalique Renard leaping fox mascot, aka hood ornament, £81,250


Lalique Renard leaping fox mascot, aka hood ornament, £81,250

Another of the scarcest mascots is Renard, a leaping fox made in 1930. This model has even eluded some of the most prolific collectors as it is estimated fewer than 10 exist. It had a small chip but sold at £81,250. It was bought in the room by a British bidder who needed it to complete his collection. He also purchased a version of the Tete de Paon (peacock’s head) designed in 1928 in turquoise glass at £21,250.

 Lalique Tete de Paon (peacock’s head), £21,250


Lalique Tete de Paon (peacock’s head), £21,250

The sale also included one of the largest vases designed by Rene Lalique: the 41cm (just above 16in) high Palestre vase from 1928, molded with male nudes, sold for £45,000. Joy McCall commented: “I was thrilled for the first time in my career to be able to offer a complete set of Lalique car mascots plus a number of lots that I had not seen before in my 25 years of handling Lalique.”

Lalique Palestre vase, £45,000

Lalique Palestre vase, £45,000

These included the Quatre Masques decanter, an early design from 1912, which sold for £9,375; the Chrysanthemum Coffret, with a foil-backed glass panel set in a rosewood and walnut carcass, which earned £8,750; and a Medallions vase, a relatively late model from 1937, which attained £10,625. The sale, attracting buyers from the UK, Europe, North America, Australia and China, Japan and Hong Kong, was 90% sold by lot and exceeded its pre-sale estimate to realize £608,000.

Lucie Rie footed bowl with pink body banded with turquoise, £57,500

Lucie Rie footed bowl with pink body banded with turquoise, £57,500

The market for the Austrian-born British studio potter Lucie Rie (1902-95), which has reached new heights in recent years, was thriving at the mixed-discipline Modern Made auction held on April 29, which totaled £1.3 million with a selling rate across 374 lots of 86%.

 Lucie Rie footed bowl with jade-green body, £50,000


Lucie Rie footed bowl with jade-green body, £50,000

This auction included two textbook footed porcelain bowls dating from circa 1980, Rie’s prime period, when she displayed mastery of both form and glaze from her London studio at Albion Mews. Both were acquired by the vendor in the early 1980s. The example in pink with a turquoise banding, sgraffito design and a bronzed rim brought £57,500, while the other in a vibrant jade green made £50,000.

Akiko Hirai grogged stoneware Moon jar, £13,750

Akiko Hirai grogged stoneware Moon jar, £13,750

The Anglo-Japanese potter Akiko Hirai (b. 1970-) is among the more admired of the current generation of contemporary ceramicists. Her grogged stoneware Moon jar, remarkable for its rugged surface and ash glazes, sold for £13,750.

Peter Collingwood black linen and stainless steel wall hanging, £11,250

Peter Collingwood black linen and stainless steel wall hanging, £11,250

Combining both two and three-dimensional works of art from the post-war era, the Modern Made format has done much to champion the market for applied arts and crafts. Based in Colchester for much of his career, Peter Collingwood (1922-2008) was at the forefront of weaving for 50 years. His trademark microgauze wall hangings, many of them sold at the time through Liberty’s and Heal’s, use the traditional craft to create modern visual abstraction. Today they are admired and collected worldwide. An example in woven black linen and stainless steel, signed and titled M. 22 No. 41, earned £11,250.

 

The current rate of exchange is £1 = $1.24.

View top auction results on LiveAuctioneers here: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/