The sale of the century has opened this week; Christie’s is offering Peggy and David Rockefeller’s collection for auction in New York, hitting a collosal $646,133,594 / £476,148,559 / €541,380,911 on its opening day.
Liberally sprinkled with headline-grabbing Picassos (Fillette à la corbeille fleurie has been sold at $115,000,000) and Monets (Nymphéas en fleur has totalled $84,687,500), the collection is a vast haul of not just fine art but also furniture, ceramics, silverware and various examples of domestic finery, with all proceeds of the sale going to charity.
To spike the interest of younger collectors – perhaps priced out of the fine art sales but daring enough to match a Louis XV walnut bergère with an ‘LC2’ chair – Christie’s enlisted the help of American photographer Stephen Kent Johnson and our US editor Michael Reynolds. Kent Johnson charged up the ring flash while Reynolds applied his expert touch with finely turned legs and plumped upholstery to add a revelatory lustre to everything from a George III mahogany wine cooler to a 20-year-old monogrammed hooded spider phaeton buggy.
Continuing until 11 May, the auction promises even more record-breaking sales throughout the week.
As originally featured in the May 2018 issue of Wallpaper* (W*230)
A Staffordshire porcelain fruit cooler ($400-600) atop a George II mahogany triangular drop-leaf table ($5,000-8,000)
A selection of English mahogany tripod tables and French and English clocks, estimates ranging from $100-$10,000
A pair of Louis XV walnut bergeres ($2,000-3,000), a George I walnut settee ($2,000-3,000) and a Dutch tapestry cushion ($300-500)
A George II mahogany library armchair, attributed to Wright and Elwick, circa 1755 ($50,000-80,000 for a pair) and a pair of 19th-century Dutch brass shoe-form wall brackets ($200-300)
A George II walnut dressing bureau-on-stand ($4,000-6,000) and a William IV mahogany hall chair ($2,000-3,000 for a pair) with a pair of Meissen pug dogs ($3,000-5,000)
A selection of European brass candlesticks and a brass chandelier atop an Italian walnut table, estimates ranging from $200-9,000
A selection of lamps (estimates ranging from $100-500) atop an English oak dresser ($2,000-3,000)
A George III mahogany wine cooler ($3,000-5,000)
INFORMATION
The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller auction is on 7-11 May. For more information, visit the Christie’s website
-
The new Polaroid Flip unfolds to bring you pin-sharp instant photographyPolaroid announces the Flip, an instant camera that blends its evergreen film technology with better results and more control
-
On the Isle of Man, the secret history of designer Archibald Knox is revealedThe mysterious life and works of local designer Archibald Knox is celebrated in a retrospective at Manx Museum, spanning silverware, furniture, clocks and more
-
Conie Vallese and Super Yaya’s beribboned bronze furniture is dressed to impressTucked away on the top floor of Villa Bagatti during Milan Design Week 2025, artist Conie Vallese and fashion designer Rym Beydoun of Super Yaya unveiled bronze furniture pieces, softened with hand-dyed ribbons in pastel hues
-
‘It feels almost alive’: This rare Judy Kensley McKie ‘Leopard Couch’ could be yoursDesigner Judy Kensley McKie’s 1983 ‘Leopard Couch’ will be auctioned at Phillips; one of her first fully realised sculptural furniture designs, it’s a zoomorphic delight
-
The Bouroullecs’ ‘Belleville’ chair reimagined 53 ways for La Source Garouste auctionThe ‘Belleville’ chair is spliced, diced and furrified for La Source Garouste’s charity auction, by designers from Christian Louboutin to Constance Guisset
-
Housden’s collection of Gerrit Rietveld’s furniture goes on sale at Christie’sBrian and Margaret Housden’s daughter shares musings on the legacy of the furniture that lived at Housden House, going to auction tomorrow
-
Set superstar Alexandre de Betak’s Paris apartment interiors go under the hammer -
Bid farewell: the sale of the mid-century at New York’s Four Seasons Restaurant -
Sale force: an auction of iconic works is set to finalise funds for Design Museum
