Auction #1: Wright
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
The results are in, and it looks like I handicapped this one accurately. Front-loading the sale with design art was indeed a bad idea: only 21 of the 38 lots sold, and only 9 of those 21 sold within or above estimate range. (Note: listed prices include Wright's 25% buyer's premium. The hammer price for this Marc Newson lamp, for instance, was $5,000, the low estimate.)
Tons of great stuff went unsold. I mean, come on: not even a prototype Womb chair managed to sell? Even many of the Eames lots, usually swarmed upon, yielded no bids. That said, the auction wasn't a total disaster. Evans continues to sell well -- and, in some cases, extraordinarily well. I also pointed out as soon as I got the catalog that the estimate on this Ox chair was absurdly low; I was proven correct. (Brown leather mid-century classics proved popular in general. Note to self: reupholster Egg chair in well-aged leather prior to sale.)
Okay, okay, so I was wrong on one major prediction: the Maloof chair only sold for $20,000, well below the low estimate. Did people miss his obit in the Times?
Tons of great stuff went unsold. I mean, come on: not even a prototype Womb chair managed to sell? Even many of the Eames lots, usually swarmed upon, yielded no bids. That said, the auction wasn't a total disaster. Evans continues to sell well -- and, in some cases, extraordinarily well. I also pointed out as soon as I got the catalog that the estimate on this Ox chair was absurdly low; I was proven correct. (Brown leather mid-century classics proved popular in general. Note to self: reupholster Egg chair in well-aged leather prior to sale.)
Okay, okay, so I was wrong on one major prediction: the Maloof chair only sold for $20,000, well below the low estimate. Did people miss his obit in the Times?