Skinner Auction, Boston, MA, held a 20th Century Design sale on December 13, 2019. The sale included a diverse selection of French and American glass and lamps, and a sizable collection of Le Verre Francais vases.
The top lot of the sale, #159, was a Bigelow & Kennard Rose Blossom table lamp. It was beautiful and large (21½” diameter), but the final price of $24,600, against a pre-sale estimate of $3,000 – $5,000, was a surprise. Bigelow & Kennard was a Boston company and the sale was in Boston, so there seemed to be a nice symbiosis.
The Bigelow & Kennard lamp sold for more than the second highest lot of the sale, a Tiffany Studios 20″ diameter Daffodil table lamp, lot #30. It sold below it’s estimate of $20,000 – $30,000, realizing $22,140, including buyer’s premium. It was a fairly standard, somewhat boring example, so the result shouldn’t have been unexpected. Regardless, it was a good buy.
The third best result of the sale was a beautiful, 22″ tall, Daum Nancy Rain vase, lot #36. It sold for $19,680, against a pre-sale estimate of $5,000 – $7,000. The estimate was quite conservative, so the competition was strong. Rain is a very desirable subject matter for Daum Nancy. Personally I wasn’t interested in buying the vase because of its monumental size. Huge vases are difficult to pack, transport, display and sell.
The top lot of the group of Le Verre Francais vases was #256, a rare and colorful Lobelias vase. It sold for $7,995, including buyer’s premium, against a pre-sale estimate of only $500 – $700.
For the complete results of the sale, click here.