The hoped-for highlight, Edgar Brandt’s monumental cast iron vasque La Danse, 5ft 2in (1.58m) tall, with a “refer department” tag, went unsold, as did a Ruhlmann burr walnut bureau à abattant (estimate €100,000-120,000), and two major works by Lalique: a gold and cloisonné enamel Four Dragonfly pendant; and a Madrid glass chandelier (each estimated up to €70,000).
The sale included 30 items of furniture (of which 17 sold) by Léon Jallot (1874-1967) and/or his son Maurice Jallot (1900-71), who worked together from the start of the 1920s.
Highlight was a 5ft 4in high by 2ft 10in (1.62m x 87cm) wide mahogany-veneered cupboard with a carved and gilded decorative panel featuring birds in a jungle and signed Léon Jallot. This raised €75,000 (£51,700), five times the estimate.
A Dupré-Lafon parchment-covered, limed oak rectangular coffee table led the sale on €225,000 (£155,000), well clear of estimate, ahead of a rectangular travertine table by Jean-Charles Moreux, formerly housed in the studio of furniture designer André Arbus. It took a quadruple-estimate €110,000 (£75,860)..
Of lesser aesthetic pretensions but equally appealing provenance was a set of eight green wooden garden chairs designed by Emilio Terry in 1963 for the outdoor theatre at the Château de Groussay near Paris. The chairs were sold for Fr30,000 (around £3000) by Sotheby’s at the Groussay sale in 1998, but here soared over ten times estimate to €52,000 (£35,900): a truly dramatic short-term investment.
Strictly French policy translates into healthy bidding at Tajan
THE Decorative Arts sale on May 19 at Tajan (14.35/20.33% buyer’s premium) was devoted almost exclusively to Art Deco and saw 165 of its 288 lots (57 per cent) find takers en route to a total of €3.18m (£2.2m) including premium. Unlike the sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s, the catalogue was in French only with no English translations.
