’Quasi’ cabinet
(Image credit: press)

After the onslaught of new products at the Salone del Mobile, we thought it time to take a step back and look at the limited edition, the one off and the objects that have stood the test of time - those extraordinary pieces with equally gawk-worthy prices. For their latest sale, auctioneers Phillips de Pury have pulled together a stellar list of works by names that read like a who's who of 20th and 21st century design.

Set for the hammer are pieces by mid-century masters, such as Jean Prouvé, Charlotte Perriand and Serge Mouille, including a 1953 collaboration between Prouv&#233 and Perriand - the 'Mexique' bookcase. Originally destined for the bedrooms of lucky students at Cité Universitaire, Paris, the bookcase is expected to fetch between £80,000 and £140,000.

Other standouts include Atelier Van Lieshout's 'Fisherman's House' that's modelled on the traditional fishing huts built along the Zuiderzee inlet in the 1950s; the fractured 'Quasi' cabinet by ArandaLasch; and Maarten Baas's 'Unique "Where There's Smoke" screen for which the designer provocatively burned a piece by Charles and Ray Eames.

The works are on show at Phillips de Pury's sleek new European HQ in Howick Place. A former Royal Mail sorting office in London's Victoria, it was recently converted by Alessandro Cajrati Crivelli - the man who created Milan's Zona Tortona - into a creative quarter of galleries and design studios.

Blocked bookcase

’Mexique’ bookcase by Charlotte Perriand and Atelier Jean Prouvé from the Maison du Mexique, Cité Universitaire, Paris, 1953

(Image credit: press)

’Quasi’ cabinet

’Quasi’ cabinet by Aranda\Lasch, c. 2007

(Image credit: press)

’Type III Luxor’ table in wood

’Type III Luxor’ table by David Adjaye, 2007

(Image credit: press)

Wiliow light sculpture

’Willow’ sculpture by Harry Bertoia, c. 1970

(Image credit: press)

three arm ceiling lamp

Unique three-arm ceiling lamp by Serge Mouille, c. 1955

(Image credit: press)

’Fisherman’s House’ by Atelier Van Lieshout, 2000

’Fisherman’s House’ by Atelier Van Lieshout, 2000

(Image credit: press)

Totem floor lamp

’Totem’ floor lamp by Serge Mouille, c. 1962

(Image credit: press)

Pair of rare and early ’Kasese Sheep’ chairs

Pair of rare and early ’Kasese Sheep’ chairs by Hella Jongerius, 1999

(Image credit: press)

Unique ’Where There’s Smoke’ screen by Maarten Baas, 2005

Unique ’Where There’s Smoke’ screen by Maarten Baas, 2005

(Image credit: press)

flower shaped light feature on a wall

Exceptional large wall light by Poul Henningsen, for the Concert Hall, Scala Theater, Arhus, Denmark, 1955

(Image credit: press)

ADDRESS

Phillips de Pury & Company
Howick Place
London SW1P 1BB

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Malaika Byng is an editor, writer and consultant covering everything from architecture, design and ecology to art and craft. She was online editor for Wallpaper* magazine for three years and more recently editor of Crafts magazine, until she decided to go freelance in 2022. Based in London, she now writes for the Financial Times, Metropolis, Kinfolk and The Plant, among others.