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 Prouvé 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.
Design sale at Phillips de Pury, London

’Crochet’ chair by Marcel Wanders, 2006
’Crochet’ chair by Marcel Wanders, 2006

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

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

’Type III Luxor’ table by David Adjaye, 2007
’Type III Luxor’ table by David Adjaye, 2007

’Willow’ sculpture by Harry Bertoia, c. 1970
’Willow’ sculpture by Harry Bertoia, c. 1970

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

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

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

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

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

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