International Design

Around the world in 374 lots - Let us take you on a journey through the design history of the last 100 years.

Our tour begins in the USA of the 1950s, where Harry Bertoia produced a series of new types of furniture made of bent metal wire. The offer includes the iconic '420' chair as a set of four. At the same time, George Nelson designed his 'Modular Seatings' series, offered here as both a two-seater (€ 1,800-2,200) and a three-seater (€ 2,000-2,300). With a leap in time of around 30 years, we now turn our attention to the 'Skinny Beaver' chair by world-famous architect Frank O. Gehry. It shows the joy of experimentation of the 1970s. This rare design classic is made only of glued corrugated cardboard and is limited to 250 copies (€ 3.000-3.800).

We then cross the Atlantic and make a brief stop in the United Kingdom, where Ron Arad's 1990 'Double Soft Big Easy' sofa - resembling a poppy red kissing mouth - brings the charm of the 1960s back into the living room (€ 2,500-3,000), while Michael Young's three 'Sticklights' provide the right atmosphere (€ 1,200-2,000).

Our tour finally touches down in France, where a remarkable collection of furniture and objects by Philippe Starck awaits us alongside works by Christian Liaigre, Pierre Chapo and Michel Cadestin. The offer here ranges from the design classic 'Lola Mundo' (€ 900-1,200), architectural models and stylish everyday objects to the slightly surrealistic 'W.W. Stool' (€ 1,500-2,500). Pierre Chapo is represented by a complete seating landscape, two armchairs, two sofas as well as the iconic eye-shaped sofa table 'L'oeuil'. His high-quality, sustainable designs in natural, solid woods are akin to Charlotte Perriand's designs and are gaining increasing international popularity. The Chapo furniture is offered at reasonable prices between € 1,500 and € 5,000. Also on display are classics by Eileen Gray, including a day bed for Classicon (€ 2,200-3,000) and the 'Centimètre' rug (€ 1,800-2,200).

We continue our excursion in Scandinavia, where we are greeted by a great number of big names. The selection of chairs ranges from designs by Eliel Saarinen to Arne Jacobsen, Alvar Aalto and Eero Aarnio; matched by the 'Circular' dining table for Fritz Hansen (€ 1,500-2,500). An extensive selection of carpets as well as bowls and vases by Tapio Wirkkala, Vicke Lindstrand or even Curt Magnus Addin provide the stylish decoration. The appropriate 'hygge' atmosphere is created by lamps from Hans-Agne Jakobsson, Jo Hammerborg and Arne Jacobsen.

To call it a trip around the world, we now head to Japan, where the 'Lavinia' table light by Masayuki Kurokawa immediately catches our eye. With its expressive dome shape, hovering over a cylindrical base, it shows in a powerful yet subtle way how beautiful timeless design can be (€ 3.000-4.000). The 'XXXX_Stool' by Yuya Ushida (€ 1.500-2000) or the two 'Edo 2' chairs by world-renowned architect Kisho Kurokawa (€ 1.200-1.800) must also be mentioned in this context.

At the end of our tour we return to Germany to take a fascinated look at the extensive cutlery set '784/84' by Carl Pott (€ 3.000-4.000). Familiar names like Ingo Maurer with the 'Giant Bulb Opal' (€ 1.500-2.000) and two of his iconic 'Headlights' (€ 1.500-1.800) or Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's 'Barcelona' lounger (€ 3.500-5.000) are also part of the offer. Designs by Gerrit Rietveld or even Charles Rennie Mackintosh complete the offer around the world.

Vive La France - Philippe Starck and Pierre Chapo inspire!

The international design auction brought sensational results for Philippe Starck. 84% of the 50 objects on offer, furniture, lighting, electrical appliances, sculptures and everyday objects were sold. Two pieces of small furniture brought forth the highest hammer prices: the surrealistic stool icon W.W. almost doubled its estimate to €3,800, while the classic 'Lola Mundo‘ folding chair was sold for €3,700, almost three times its estimate. However, the largest increases in price were seen in architectural models and utensils, all of which were sold; the 'Le Moult' model achieved more than five times its estimate and was sold for €2,600; the 'Picfeu' poker rose to more than ten times its estimate - € 2,200 hammer price, two 'Chab Wellington' coat hooks more than twenty times - € 2,500 hammer price.

The price for the 'L'Oeil' coffee table by carpenter/designer Pierre Chapo was also record-breaking; the hammer fell only at € 10,500 in favor of a French gallery. The two sofas (two/three seater) and two of Chapo's armchairs also sold at high prices: €1,300, €1,500 and €3,200 respectively. Two rugs from France also attracted attention: Eileen Gray's design 'Centimetre' rose in price well above its estimate at €2,600, while Andrée Putman's design from the 1980s received the same price.

Designs by Alvar Aalto, Hans J. Wegner and Egon Bro Pedersen were successful in Scandinavian design. Wegner's early 'AT33' sewing table from 1949 went to a German private household for €1,000, as did the typically Danish chest of drawers by Egon Bro Pedersen for €1,500. Aalto's famous cantilever chair '34' made of birch plywood with a striking zebra look can now be found in a Belgian household for a hammer price of €2,200.

The expanded metal chair 'SingSingSing‘ by Japanese designer Shiro Kuramata from 1985 also achieved an exciting result with a hammer price of € 2,700. Also designed in the 1980s, Masayuki Kurokawa's curved, mushroom-shaped 'Lavinia‘ table light is one of the most elegant lighting designs of the time; a collector from Belgium secured it for himself for more than double its estimate. A typical draft of the New German Design of the 1980s, the 'Solid' chair, made of concrete and reinforcing iron, was sold to an American collector for €2,500.

Jindrich Halabala's iconic 'H269' armchair group with ottoman from the 1930s/40s, instead, was sold to a Munich bidder for €6,000.

However, the highest price of the auction was received by the corrugated cardboard icon 'Skinny Beaver' by the world-famous architect Frank O. Gehry; Designed in 1979 with a focus on sustainability, the 'well-owned' chair went to an Italian private collection for €14,000, almost five times the estimate.