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.
’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
’Type III Luxor’ table by David Adjaye, 2007
’Willow’ sculpture by Harry Bertoia, c. 1970
Unique three-arm ceiling lamp by Serge Mouille, c. 1955
’Fisherman’s House’ by Atelier Van Lieshout, 2000
’Totem’ floor lamp by Serge Mouille, c. 1962
Pair of rare and early ’Kasese Sheep’ chairs by Hella Jongerius, 1999
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
ADDRESS
Phillips de Pury & Company
Howick Place
London SW1P 1BB
-
The Milanese Motor Show, or how Milan Design Week got friendly with four-wheelsThe motor industry’s take-over of MDW continues apace. We’ve trawled the halls and assembled our own auto show to explore below
-
Tokujin Yoshioka’s ephemeral ice furniture is made to melt in MilanTransparent chairs of frozen water slowly disappear during Milan Design Week 2025, in an expression of light by Japanese artist Tokujin Yoshioka
-
Could putting pen to reMarkable’s Paper Pro tablet make you more creative and less stressed?Design Museum director Tim Marlow extols the power of ‘scribbling’, and is backed up by new research from reMarkable on the benefits of its paper tablet
