This 18in (46.5cm) high table lamp in chromed metal and ebonised wood with swivel shade was catalogued simply as Modernist and given a £400-600 estimate, but a number of keen-eyed prospective purchasers recognised it as a design by the fashionable late Deco French designer Jacques Adnet.
Bidding started in the room, then progressed to a battle over the phone between a London dealer and the ultimately successful Swiss private buyer who secured the prize at £5400.
This proved to be the top price in a 279-lot sale that progressed pretty much along expected lines with a selling rate of 65 per cent by lottage (about par for this type of event).
Top prices were for French art glass with some of the miniature pieces proving noticeably popular, but with demand for Loetz glass noticeably soft. The large Icart print section that is a traditional feature of these auctions continues to sell mostly to Japan but with some additional interest from the US and Europe.
Adnet is no standard lamp
One unexpected result enlivened an otherwise unexceptional sale of Continental decorative arts held by Christie’s South Kensington (17.5/10% buyer’s premium) on September 13.
