Bonhams & Butterfields brings American and European furniture and decorative arts to auction in San Francisco on Monday, November 1, 2010, concurrent to the San Francisco Fall Antiques Show.  The international auctioneers will offer several important collections to bidders, including property formerly in the estate of noted interior designer Michael Taylor (1927-1986) and property from an important private West Coast collection.  Previews will open in the auctioneer’s San Francisco gallery on Friday, October 29th.

Collector interest should be strong for property originally from the San Francisco Estate of Michael Taylor, the noted interior designer whose work is recognized and renowned worldwide.  In 1987, a year after the designer’s death, Butterfields hosted a wildly successful sale of Taylor’s property. 

According to Bonhams & Butterfields Vice President Jeffrey Smith, many of the Michael Taylor items to be offered in the November 1st sale were illustrated in room shots within that 1987 catalogue and are also illustrated in Stephen Salny's 2008 book Michael Taylor: Interior Design.  These include a pair of Romano-Syrian (2nd-5th century AD) marble capitals that were used in Taylor’s famous house at Sea Cliff (est. $10/15,000).  Also from his residence come a pair of rare English Baroque Bath stone urns, 18th century (est. $8/12,000); a 16th century French Renaissance stone urn; and an English Gothic heraldic capital. 

Michael Taylor’s life-long fascination with Italian furniture is reflected in the pair of Venetian Rococo paint decorated tabourets on offer (est. $5/8,000) and his superb set of four Italian Neoclassical giltwood armchairs (est. $35/50,000) should interest international bidders.  Many of Mr. Taylor’s own designs are featured in the sale, including a fascinating pair of polyhedron jardinières, a pair of silvered metal photophores and a pair of rusticated cast stone pedestals. 

Jeffrey Smith said, “Michael Taylor was one of most important 20th century interior designers and the impact of his style has influenced successive generations of designers following in the footsteps of the ‘California Look’.” 

Taylor's light and airy signature style juxtaposed period furniture with oversized furniture of his own design and natural elements, including wicker, slate and fossilized ammonites whose curves echoed the asymmetric curves and rocaille of 18th century Rococo furniture.