Unique ESU Cabinet Charles and Ray Eames, circa 1950s est $25,000 - $35,000. Image Courtesy Sotheby's

By Mackie Healy, Art Market Views, Contributor

Noted mid-century dealer Mark McDonald is selling a stash of American, Scandinavian and Italian design, tagged $5,000 to $30,000, at a single owner Sotheby’s sale on March 10th.

Objects by Isamu Noguchi, Charles and Ray Eames and Ettore Sottsass are among the offerings.

McDonald made a name over the past forty years at the helm of a string of design galleries, including the pioneering Fifty/50 and Gansevoort Gallery in Manhattan.  McDonald currently operates a gallery in bucolic Hudson, New York.

He is credited with having helped revive the market for mid-century furniture and industrial design. (A 2002 New York Times article, found here,  dubbed him “Mr. Modernism” and a “walking, talking 20th-century-design database.”)

Sotheby’s previously sold works from McDonald’s collection in 1993. In March  McDonald is unloading more of his design stock to focus on his role as an advisor for studio jewelry collectors.

Sotheby’s upcoming sale, titled What Modern Is: The Collection of Mark McDonald , features  a Charles and Ray Eames’s Unique ESU Cabinet, estimated to sell for $25,000 – $35,000.

A selection of Scandinavian ceramics, glass and wood is led by Tapio Wirkkala’s Leaf Platter, estimated to fetch $20,000 – $30,000. The sale also includes items of contemporary design and studio jewelry by Art Smith, Claire Falkenstein and Harry Bertoia.

A free panel discussion on mid-century design, featuring McDonald, Sotheby’s Director of 20th Century Design, James Zemaitis, and collector John Waddell, will take place at the New York School of Interior Design on March 4th at 6pm. RSVP to rsvp@nysid.edu