The auction week at Quittenbaum Art Auctions ended very satisfyingly with a gross proceeds of €720,000. Almost 1,100 items went under the hammer with great success during three consecutive evenings.

On Tuesday, as usual, the regular Art Nouveau/Art Deco sale commenced with the glass offer. The high-quality works, mostly from France and Austria, were highly popular. First and foremost, dealers from France and Japan battled fervently on the floor, on the telephones and online and helped receive high hammer prices for a whole range of objects. The Daum Brothers and Emile Gallé, Nancy, dominated the offer. A tall and slender 'Blés' vase by Daum Frères (lot 26), received a hammer price of €6,800 from a client present on the auction floor. The important Intercalaire vase with Martelé cut made by Daum for the Paris World Fair in 1900 (lot 29) went into a Swiss collection. The client allowed €21,000 for it. A barrel-shaped 'Vigne et Escargot' vase from the year 1904 (lot 49) was also made by Daum Frères. After a fervent battle, it reached €6,600. The impressionistic 'Paysage d'automne' vase, c1905 (lot 51) will travel to France for €8,300. Miniature vases were sought-after too. A Japanese client had left an absentee bid that granted €3,600 for a tiny 'Cygne' vase. It had been called up at €2,000 (lot 66). A large 'Magnolia' vase, from the year 1913/14, must be mentioned. A German collector bought it by phone for €10,500 (lot 100). The workshop of Emile Gallé, the other great artist of the École de Nancy, made a lentil-shaped 'Helleborus foetidus' vase between 1904-06. Having been called up at €6,000, it will from now on be part of a Swiss private collection for €8,200. An unusual ball-shaped vase with craquelure from the 1920s, by Gallé (lot 187), went to Austria for €6,000. Gallé's 'Prunes' soufflé-vase (lot 197) was popular too. A French collector was ready to pay a knock-down price of €16,000 for the very decorative vase made between 1925-30. Henri Bergé's 'Vase au lézard' for Amalric Walter (lot 269) affirmed its lower estimate of €6,500 and went into a French collection. In the Austrian glass section, a beautiful 'Phänomen' bowl with three handles from the year 1901 (lot 302) increased its price from €3,000 to €4,400 and went into an Austrian collection. Hans Bolek's jardiniere, c1915 for Loetz, Klostermühle (lot 309), almost doubled its lower estimate from €2,200 to €4,000 and will also be sent to Austria. Koloman Moser's vase with blue dots, 1903 (lot 317) went for €3,800 into a private collection in the North of Germany.

In the second part of the auction, which took place on Wednesday, quite rare items stood out. For example a delicate side cabinet with decorative tiles by J. von Schwarz (lot 517). After a fervent battle, it will be sent to Switzerland for €5,200. The interest for François Pompon's polar bear (lot 647) was high. A London based dealer got the upper hand over several absentee bids and three contestants on the phones. The posthumous cast was knocked down at €10,000. A brooch by Eugen Pflaumer, a former employee of the Wiener Werkstätte (lot 722), received a good result too. Taxed at a moderate €1,200, it received €2,000.

On Thursday, we were proud to offer not only one but two extraordinary private collections. The evening started with the special collection of the interior of the rare prefab house by Richard Riemerschmid. Furnished over decades with much love, half of the selection found new homes on the day of the auction. Interest was huge in advance, the floor well-attended. Lot 1 already, the egg boiler in the shape of a hen, was coveted and received €3,000. Pieces from the 'Menzel' and 'Riemerschmid' glass services, rarely seen in this variety, were very popular too. Almost every lot sold for more than its moderate lower estimate. Above all, the sweet wine glasses (lots 21 and 22) were hammered down at €500 and €600 respectively, the rare beer glass (lot 23) was fervently fought over. Two clients on the floor and on the phone could not be deterred until the phone bidder surrendered at last at €2,600 and the client in the room was victorious. The same happy collector secured himself also a rare stoneware jug from the year 1903 (lot 54) with a branch-like handle for €2,100. From the rich selection of the famous dining set, a few items stood out: The saucepan (lot 60) sold for €1,500 and a veggie bowl (lot 62) for €1,100. Both items had been estimated at half their hammer prices. A gallery based in Southern Germany secured itself the 'Edel' chair (lot 81) for €3,000. Furniture was popular in general. After a heated battle, the 'Interior II' credenza went for €2,500 to Berlin. The rare 'Interior III' wardrobe (lot 104) more than doubled its price and went to Belgium for €2,200. The 'Sunday Rider' together with the framed cover of its envelope (lot 92) found a connoisseur for €1,900. A small table light, c1906 (lot 115) will go to Canada for triple its appraisal. An American museum secured itself some pieces of stoneware. For example, a lidded bowl for Reinhold Merkelbach, c1906, for €1,100.

The evening went on almost as vividly as before, when the private collection 'Bohemian Glass from the Elisabeth Glass Works' was called up. Almost 80% of the offer was sold on the day of the auction. Clients on the phone and online turned out to be the most persevering and secured themselves the largest part of the knockdowns. Here, too, the first lot of the evening was fervently battled over. The opal pale pink vase with purple stripes in the shape of a flower was called up quite affordably at €300 and reached €1,800 after a heated bidding contest. It went into the Austrian trade. A blue vase with flower-shaped applications (lot 32) increased its price from €800 to €1300. A client in the room got the upper hand here. For lot 91, a diabolo-shaped vase with purple applications, €2,000 were received. Its limit had been €450. It, too, will go to Austria.