Phillips, the renowned global platform for buying and selling 20th and 21st art and design, reached the highest total for a design auction in their company history — scoring £11.7 million.
Talking about the auction Domenico Raimondo, Head of Design, Europe and Senior International Specialist, said, “At £11.7 million, this result marks the highest total for a Design auction in Phillips’ history. It is a testament to the strength of the London market and hard work and commitment of the Design team. We were immensely proud to have been entrusted with the sale of Jean Dunand’s unrivalled masterpiece ‘Les Palmiers’ and are grateful to our clients who recognised its importance and committed themselves to it, which ultimately led to a world record result for this master of French Art Deco. The opportunity to reunite the original daybed designed by Katsu Hamanaka with ‘Les Palmiers’ was professionally rewarding for us but equally it allowed the work to be contextualised in such a way that attracted an exceptional level of interest from collectors. We continue to lead the market for Italian Design, with the Pair of vitrines achieving a world record for Carlo Scarpa, and other strong results across the field including Gio Ponti’s Unique pair of armchairs. We purposefully look at the design world with a critical eye to redefine the market by bringing new names to the fore and broadening our horizons by looking at present and past historical context.”
The biggest auction achiever Les Palmiers by Jean Dunand sold for £3.3 million at the auction, making it the most expensive item. Whilst works by Jean Royère from Oscar Majdalani’s family collection realised £2.3 Million.
New Auction Records
| Lot | Description | Estimate | Price Achieved |
| 8 | Duilio (Dubé) Barnabé, Unique dining table, 1950s | £25,000 – 35,000 | £63,000
$87,142/€73,282 |
| *previous record price: €35,400 set in 2011 | |||
| 12 | Carlo Scarpa, Pair of vitrines, designed 1957, executed circa 1963 | £150,000 – 200,000 | £352,800
$487,993/€410,377 |
| *previous record price: £248,750 set in 2018 | |||
| 33 | Jean Dunand, ‘Les Palmiers’ smoking room, from the residence of Mademoiselle Colette Aboucaya, Paris, 1930-1936 | £1,500,000 – 2,000,000 | £3,289,500
$4,550,036/€3,826,346 |
| *previous record price: €3,089,000 set in 2009 | |||
| 34 | Katsu Hamanaka, Daybed, from the residence of Mademoiselle Colette Aboucaya, Paris, circa 1935 | £200,000 – 300,000 | £403,200
$557,706/€469,002 |
| *previous record price: €162,500 set in 2017 | |||
| 63 | Ron Arad, Prototype ‘D-Sofa’, 1993 | £80,000 – 120,000 | £1,232,500
$1,704,794/€1,433,644 |
| *previous record price: €373,800 set in 2014 | |||
| 77 | Junzo Sakakura, Pair of lounge chairs, model no. 5016, designed 1957, produced 1970s | £4,000 – 6,000 | £25,200
$34,857/€29,313 |
| *previous record price: £16,250 set in 2014 | |||
| 169 | Vistosi, Side table, 1980s | £2,000 – 3,000 | £27,720
$38,342/€32,244 |
| *previous record price: £12,500 set in 2012 | |||
