Sotheby’s – Bidding Soars for Art Nouveau in Paris

Result Highlights from the Sotheby’s Press Release

The auction house must have been quite a buzz with “most of the 119 lots the subject of a lengthy bidding war – often crowned by applause”. The Musée d’Orsay picked up lot 74, adding a pair of earthenware and gilt-bronze lamps by Georges Hoentschel to their collection. Japanese and Russian bidders were “especially prominent.”

To Cécile Verdier, Sotheby’s European Head of 20th Century Decorative Arts, “The fantastic results obtained this evening pay tribute to a fascinating artistic movement which many feel has been unjustly neglected. This sale counted as a market test: the challenge was met brilliantly!”

Overall Results — Estimates €3,5-5m / $5-7m — Realized €6.7 million / $9.2 million

LOT 98 — Estimate €300,000 — Realized €1,240,750 / $1,706,000
René Lalique’s bronze sculpture Femme Ailée – one of the bronze elements from the balustrade of the Lalique stand at the 1900 Exposition Universelle (reproduced on the front of the catalogue)

LOT 106 — Estimate €155,000-235,000 — Realized €696,750/$958,000
A unique “Papillons et ChauvesSouris”, an enamel and moonstone and gold pocket-watch – an iconic work by Lalique that some collectors had been eyeing for years – was propelled to €696,750 / $958,000 by a lengthy bidding war between two collectors.

LOT 120 — Estimate €60,000 — Realized €118,350 / $162,700
Lalique ‘Pavots’ tablelamp