No new post this Monday. We’re on vacation.
It’s not often that Tiffany Studios lamps are sold at auction in Europe. So I was surprised that a French auction house, Tajan, was selling one, a Tiffany Lotus lamp, at their sale in Paris last November 20, 2018. The final sale price of €93,600 ($106,122), including buyer’s premium, easily exceeded the pre-sale estimate of €40,000 – €60,000.
But was it a good price compared to what it might have brought if it had sold at a major American auction house? Not if you look at the result of a fairly recent Sotheby’s New York sale, Tiffany: Dreaming in Glass, December 13, 2017. A green example sold for $375,000, against a pre-sale estimate of $120,000 – $180,000.
So the way I see it, one of two things happened. Either someone got a great deal on an authentic lamp or got ripped off on a reproduction. I wasn’t there to inspect the lamp, so I have no idea. I can only hope it was the former.
