NEW YORK, NY.- On December 9, Christie’s will hold the sales of 20/21 Design and Tiffany Studios. Encompassing a combined 226 lots, these two auctions offer a sweeping illustration of the category. The sale of 20/21 Design includes two superlative private collections: Masterpieces of Art Deco: The Marsha Miro Collection and An Important New York Interior Designed by Francis Sultana, highlighted by exceptional representations of Art Deco and Contemporary design respectively. The Tiffany Studios auction features a rare and important Landscape Floor Lamp ($500,000-700,000) that is one of three surviving examples and a strong selection of table lamps with a Grape and a variety of Peony models amongst the offerings that all hail from private collections. In addition there is a superb selection of objects that includes an exceptional Paperweight Vase, circa 1902 ($60,000 – $80,000).

20/21 Design
The sale’s selection of early 20th century design is underscored by 26 remarkable lots from Masterpieces of Art Deco: The Marsha Miro Collection.

• In building the collection of Art Deco, Marsha Miro’s goal was to find exemplary works that each made a strong statement about creativity: furniture and objects with the stature of works of art that were also capable of holding their own within the context of the 20th century paintings and sculpture with which they existed in her home.

• The success of her effort can be measured in the exceptional character of the pieces within the collection, including highlights from Edgar Brandt, Eugène Printz, Ernest Boiceau, Pierre Chareau, Jean Dunand, Pierre Legrain, and Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann.

• The Marsha Miro Collection comprises furniture, objects and lighting.

An Important New York Interior Designed by Francis Sultana includes an exceptional selection of contemporary furniture, judiciously assembled by one of today’s most fêted designers.

 In his first commission in New York, Francis Sultana created this remarkable interior in the famed Bond Street residential building designed by the Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron.

• Spread over three floors with a 40 foot garden, the apartment’s layout allowed Sultana and his clients to create a space that combined their shared passion for art and design.

• Every piece in the apartment was carefully selected either from Europe or America, and chosen for its individual beauty, quality, refinement and purpose. Sultana also commissioned a range of work from artists including Mattia Bonetti and Ugo Rondinone.

• The collection encompasses 23 lots with custom works by Mattia Bonetti, Oriel Harwood, and Sultana himself. Highlights include a ‘Kawakubo’ Chest Of Drawers from 1994 by Elizabeth Garouste and Mattia Bonetti ($70,000-100,000), a 'Make Love Not War', Table by Elizabeth Garouste and Mattia Bonetti from 1994 (estimate: $15,000-25,000), and two ‘Bond’ Armchairs designed by Mattia Bonetti in 2006 ($30,000-50,000 each). Among the highlights of the various owners portion of the 20/21 Design sale is Jean Dunand’s 'La Chasse' panel, circa 1935 ($120,000-180,000).

• The present panel is a smaller variation of a part of Jean Dunand’s Normandie hunting mural 'La Chasse,’ installed in the first class smoking room’s entrance.

• In all, Dunand created 110 separate panels for the room, each secured to the walls with copper frames.

• Considered Dunand’s greatest masterpiece on the luxurious ocean liner, the room offered an environment of masculine solemnity enhanced by his depictions of gamely pursuits that included fishing, athletics, horse taming, wine harvest and hunting.

Tiffany Studios The Tiffany Studios sale is led by A Rare and Important 'Landscape' Floor Lamp, circa 1900 ($500,000 – $700,000).

• The Landscape shade offered here is one of only three surviving examples, with the second located in the Baltimore Museum of Art and the third belonging to a private collection.

• This exceedingly rare pattern, Model 1550, is undoubtedly an attempt to translate the essence of a Tiffany Landscape window into a domical form, marking a significant shift from the geometric and floral patterns seen in Tiffany’s other shades.

• The masterful design of this shade sets it apart as being one of the few Tiffany shades to have a continuous, nonrepetitive design. Illustrating a full transition from sunrise to sunset, this shade masterfully utilizes a richly assembled landscape to depict shifts in light and color during different times of day.

Also among the top lots is A 'Grape' Table Lamp, Circa 1900 ($350,000 – $550,000).

• With their colorful clusters of berries and curling, wistful vines, the grape served as inspiration for many Tiffany Studios creations. The Standard Grape model offered here is one of the most distinguished models of the grape motif in lighting design.

• There are six identified examples of the Standard Grape pattern, with only two sold at auction in the last twenty years.

• As a final touch, the foliage and fruit are set against a yellow twilight sky confirming Tiffany’s mastery at conveying the beauty of nature in his glasswork.