In the 20th century design market, variety is a mark of style. The more exposure an era has to a contemporary market, the higher the number of important designs are revered in all genres and mediums. This admiration and diversity in style ultimately gives rise to value, as it has for midcentury and modern design. 

The 20th century design selection in Clarke Auction’s June 1st sale is essentially a microcosm of the current market through the offering of a wide variety of design. Highlights in the 20th century design selection range geographically from Scandinavia, Central Europe, and America, and spread the material scope from chrome and brass to rosewood and walnut.

The popular Scandinavian and Danish vein of design is exemplified in several pieces of the sale, including a Danish Hornslet Mobelfabrick rosewood tambour door cabinet ($600/$900), a pair of Vatne Mobler lounge chairs ($600/$900), a pair of Grete Jalk End Tables ($300/$500), and a set of Ole Wanscher for France & Sons / John Stuart four seat sofa and lounge chair. The variety of design within the Danish market can be remarkable, but most pieces maintain a similarity in material and general seamlessness.

The European designs available on June 1st at Clarke display greater within group diversity in terms of aesthetic. Important works by European designers include a Tommi Parzinger saber leg dining table ($3,000/$5,000) with light stain inlaid diamonds on a checkerboard top. The unique brass accent on the curved legs also helps to edge this table to the highest end of quality. Austrian designer Paul Frankl is also presented in the sale in the form of his rare “Station Wagon” bedroom set. The double dresser ($4,000/$6,000), the end tables and headboard ($2,000/$3,000), and the tall chest ($2,000/$3,000) will all be offered individually. The designer may be most known for his later works, but this set is a representation of transitional aesthetic that uses both deco and the American standard to high design. Austrian lighting was also manufactured with the wild diversity and highest quality in the day, and is represented

The sale will also feature a number of Italian designs including a contemporary dining set by Giovanni Offreddi and Giorgio Saporiti ($1,000/$1,500) and a number of modern Giorgio Saporiti for Il Loft pieces including a “Ruthy” cabinet and bedroom set, a pair “Jada Capitonne” chairs, and more. There will also be several contemporary Italian pieces by i4 Mariani. Vintage and midcentury Italian designs also includes a set of 6 Guido Faleschini “Tucroma” chairs($1,000/$1,500) and a set of 6 Mario Bellini for Cassina leather wrapped side chairs ($1,000/$1,500).

American designs have achieved their day in the sun during the middle of the 20th century, and for good reason. Designers like Paul McCobb and Vladimir Kagan, who are featured in the sale specifically for their sofa designs, are just two examples of the highest end of American modernism. The omnibus sofa($2,000/$3,000) and the matching McCobb sofas ($1,000/$1,500 ea.) are two highly modern, yet highly different designs. McCobb will also have several other important lots including a set of 8 early Calvin dining chairs ($600/$900) and a lounge chair ($400/$600).  There will also be a full bedroom set by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings ($1,000/$1,500) included in the sale.

Of all the midcentury design “giants,” the biggest in the sale was established in America. George Nakashima is the true depiction of how different American modern design can be to itself and the rest of the world. Materials used in organic ways have propelled Nakashima’s designs, in all of their complex simplicity, to the top of the midcentury market. Clarke will offer a pair of one drawer end tables ($4,000/$6,000), a tall chest ($8,000/$12,000), and a double dresser ($8,000/$12,000) on June 1st. Also featured on the other end of the material scope, is a brass ribbon form table ($3,000/$5,000) by American sculptor Silas Seandel. 

To register for the sale or request condition reports, please contact the gallery at info@clarkeny.com or call (914) 833-8336. The in-house previews will be from Friday and Saturday May 29th and 30th from 12pm to 6pm. Previews will continue on Monday, June 1st, from 12pm to 4pm (start of sale).

Clarke is currently accepting mid-20th century design consignments for their late June sale. Please contact Keane Ryan at keane@clarkeny.com for more information.