1959 Gio Ponti conference table from Time-Life building, sold for $104,500

By Mackie Healy, Art Market Views, Contributor

Sotheby’s 20th Century Design sale totaled $3.5 million yesterday, with works from  modern design dealer Mark McDonald fetching $1.3 million.

The single owner sale, titled What Modern Is: The Collection of Mark McDonald, resulted in 84 percent of lots finding buyers. (View results here).

McDonald had said he was selling works to focus on advising studio jewelry collectors. (See AMV’s preview here).

McDonald’s top lot was a Gio Ponti blonde wood conference table from the offices of New York’s Time-Life Building, which sold for $104,500 to an American collector.

Among American makers, ESU steel-frame, birchwood storage cabinets by Charles and Ray Eames – almost a mid-century cliche at this point – sold well. A custom ESU sold for $46,875, over a $35,000 high estimate. A 1st edition ESU-400 fetched $31,250, above the $20,000 high estimate.

McDonald works closely with the estate of modernist jeweler Art Smith.  A patinated copper and brass Lava cuff made $28,125, zooming past a conservative $20,000 high estimate. Other jewelry on the block included pieces by Claire Falkenstein, Ed Wiener and Sam Kramer.

Top Ten:

Title / Artist / Price Realized / Estimate / Buyer (according to Auction House)

1. An Important and Unique Conference Table from the Eighth Floor Auditorium, Time-Life Building, New York, Gio Ponti $104.500 (est. $70,000 – 90,000) American Private Collector
2. Untitled, Thomas Downing $62,500 (est. $20,000 – 30,000) American Trade
3. A Superb and Rare Large Leaf Platter, Tapio Wirkkala $59,375 (est. $20,000 – 30,000) Anonymous
4. Mao Print, Andy Warhol $50,000 (est. $40,000 – 60,000) American Private Collector
5. Custom ESU Cabinet, Charles and Ray Eames $46,875 (est. $25,000 – 35,000) Anonymous
6. Chair from the S.C. Johnson Wax Building, Racine WI, Frank Lloyd Wright $46,875  (est. $18,000 – 24,000) American Private Collector
7. Commonwealth Flatware Service, Porter Blachard $40,625 (est. $30,000 – 50,000) American Private Collector
8. Table, Philip and Kelvin LaVerne $37,500 (est. $20,000 – 30,000) American Trade
9. 1st Edition ESU-400, Charles and Ray Eames $31,250 (est. $15,000 – 20,000) Anonymous
10. Lava Cuff, Art Smith, 1955-1972 $28,125 (est. $15,000 – 20,000) American Private Collector

Art Smith's Lava cuff