DALLAS – Heritage Auctions events held one week apart brought in nearly $2 million and proved the enduring appeal of early- and mid-20th-century design by American artists and designers, as well as works by their international peers, and continued the super-charged trend for enhancing our homes. Collector favorites Tiffany Studios, Harry Bertoia and George Nakashima topped the sales.

The first of three Pursuit of Beauty: Art Nouveau, Art Deco & Art Glass auctions slated for 2023 took place on January 26 and achieved total sales of $1,104,171 against an estimate of $584,200. An astonishing 99% of the 259 lots offered sold, demonstrating strong bidder participation and competition across all categories.

The designs of the glass studio founded by Louis Comfort Tiffany during the Gilded Age continue to beguile collectors: A Tiffany Studios arrowroot lamp with a cattail base, which flew past its $80,000-$120,000 estimate and realized $212,500, won top-lot status. Another high-performing Tiffany Studios offering, a circa-1905 leaded glass and patinated bronze Peony table lamp, went for $87,500. Tiffany of course didn’t limit itself to lamp design: a set of 63 Tiffany Studios favrile glass tiles dating to circa 1910 sold for $50,000.

French glass by Lalique performed well also. A post-1945 clear and frosted glass Cactus center table designed by Marc Lalique earned $30,000, and a circa-1912 R. Lalique clear and frosted glass Fougeres perfume bottle with a green patina and gold foil went for $22,500.

Another top performer at $23,750 was a circa-1910 Steuben decorated brown Aurene glass peacock feather vase with warm browns underlying iridescent-edged, cream-colored peacock feathers. The vase was among the first installment of an important collection of Frederick Carder-era Steuben from Waco, Texas, with the second installment to follow on May 25.

“The results of this auction affirm the strength of the current market for early 20th-century design, and our ability to capitalize on it for the benefit of our consignors, reaching and engaging all prospective bidders worldwide,” said Heritage’s Consignment Director of Decorative Arts & Design, Samantha Robinson. “Bidders competed fiercely for lots across all categories: Tiffany Studios, Steuben, French Cameo, Lalique, and more, indicating that 2023 is an opportune year to consign and sell at auction.”

Heritage’s February 2 Design Signature® Auction was strong with 20th-century American design and featured top lots by Harry Bertoia, George Nakashima, Frank Lloyd Wright, Paul Evans, and John Mason, and took in $815,508.

A playful copper, bronze and brass Sonambient by Bertoia was the top lot at $60,000. American designer, architect and furniture maker George Nakashima, the father of the American craft movement, made a strong showing in this event. His Frenchman’s Cove II dining table from 1964, in walnut with three rosewood butterflies, sold for $38,750; his 1966 sliding door cabinet in walnut brought $37,500; and a group of six grass-seated chairs in walnut, co-authored by Mira Nakashima, sold for $22,500.

Influential American designer Paul Evans kept the mid-century sales going strong with his dramatic Deep Relief credenza from 1967, in brushed polychrome steel, slate, chromed nickel and wood, selling for $27,500.

American conceptual ceramic artist John Mason was represented in this event with a piece that sold for more than twice its estimate: Folded Cross Dark Grey from 2014 brought $23,750. Another lot that went for more than twice its estimate was Frank Lloyd Wright’s stunning 1952 blueprints for the museum for the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation – his famed and infamous spiral – which sold for $11,875.

French designer Maurice Calka’s ever-groovy 1970 Boomerang desk topped its estimate at $23,750, and Australia’s Marc Newson fabricated his Carrara marble extruded chair dubbed W in 2007; it sold for $21,250.

“We are very pleased to have offered great works by George Nakashima and Harry Bertoia, among many other important designers, which so many of our clients found compelling,” said Heritage’s Director of Design, Brent Lewis.“We look forward to our coming design auctions this spring.”

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