Greene and Greene desk and chair, selling at Sotheby's on Dec. 16, est. $4 million. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's

By Mackie Healy, Art Market Views Contributor

A Standard Oil heir’s Greene & Greene wooden desk and chair, slated to fetch around $4 million, headlines Sotheby’s Important 20th Century Design sale on Dec. 16.

The Asian-influenced desk and chair hail from Pratt House, also known as Casa Barranca after the river that runs through the property, the final structure in architects Charles and Henry Greene’s five-part Ultimate Bungalow series.

The 4,300 square foot Southern California home was designed in 1909 as a winter home for Charles M. Pratt, according to Sotheby’s.  Pratt’s father was a co-founder of Standard Oil. The desk was custom-designed for the living room by cabinet maker Peter Hall.

The desk features hand-carved inlays of a gnarled oak tree in the bas-relief, a design is inspired by the Ojai valley landscape. The drawer pulls are accented with silver.

The desk sold previously at Christie’s in 1985 for $220,000, according to Artnet, an auction record for Greene & Greene which held for nearly 15 years. That sale was criticized by architectural preservationists, who believed the disassembling of the house’s furniture compromised the integrity of the design.

The current auction record for Greene & Greene is for a 1908 Dining Suite, also by Peter Hall, from the Freeman A. Ford House in Pasadena. The circular mahogany dining table and ten accompanying chairs sold at Sotheby’s in 2006 for $2.1 million.