Frank Lloyd Wright Window and Chinese Cloisonne Top 20th Century Design and Decorative Arts Events

A Frank Lloyd Wright leaded glass window, a large private Dallas collection featuring a Gilbert Rohde dining set anda magnificent matched pair of Chinese cloisonné palace vases are among the important lots in back-to-back events presented by Heritage Auctions in its 20th Century Design Signature® Auction, with the Decorative Arts Signature® Auction following on June 14.

“The auction features a large collection of iconic American Modern Design that was secreted away in a Dallas residence for years,” said Karen Rigdon, Consignment Director at Heritage Auctions, “painting a picture of the era of the 1930s to the mid 1950s, a period of glamorous cocktail parties, elegant women and technological advancements that propelled society into the modern age.” Passionately and methodically amassed, the collection encompasses all things streamlined from furniture and accessories to appliances and books.

Other important offerings include the Frank Lloyd Wright leaded glass window is from the famed Darwin D. Martin House in Buffalo, NY – estimated at $15,000+ – and is the upper part of a Tree of Life window discarded during a 1960s remodeling.

A Toulouse-Lautrec lithograph, L’Anglais au Moulin Rouge, is featured in the Design auction with an estimate of $30,000+. Number 29 in an edition of 100, it depicts the French post-Impressionist’s most famous subject.

“Few artists are so linked with one place as Toulouse-Lautrec is with the Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris,” said Rigdon. “The pairing of a well-dressed Victorian Englishman with two of the Moulin Rouge’s infamous dancers adds humor to Toulouse-Lautrec’s unmistakable style.”

Midcentury design highlights continue with an important Italian representative in a Piero Fornasetti and Gio Ponti lithographed Architettura cabinet, estimated at $30,000+. The two-door, three-drawer cabinet sports a dazzling array of columns, windows, and arches, all rendered in black on a cream-colored ground. A Paul Frankl Desk and bookcase commissioned by the heir of the King Ranch for his New York residence and a Walter Dorwin Teague Bluebird Radio for Sparton are sure to pique the interest of collectors.

Additional interest is provided by the field of American glass, including a c. 1900 Tiffany Studios patinated bronze lamp with Tulip glass shade, estimated at $20,000+.

In the Decorative Arts auction the paired Chinese cloisonné palace vases dating to the 19th century, late in the Qing Dynasty, add a considerable amount of interest to high-end collectors. Each stands 41 inches high and has a diameter of 10-½ inches. They are estimated at $50,000+.

“The turquoise enamel on these vases is truly eye-catching,” said Rigdon, “and that is only the backdrop to the fearsome dog figures at the center of each. The two vases are mirrors of each other, which makes it all the more fortunate that they remain as a pair so viewers can appreciate the effect.”

A seven-legged Wright & Mansfield Victorian Satinwood Cabinet, dated to the 1870s and estimated at $40,000+ continues the Dec Arts highlights and is the top European lot. More than five feet tall and almost eight feet wide, this cabinet from the award-winning London firm is similar in design to another housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Additional highlights include a c. 1870 Italian (probably Milan) ebonized wood and ivory secretary and a c. 1900 French pair of monumental porcelain and gilt bronze urns. Each lot carries an estimate of $30,000+ while a c. 1900 walnut and gilt bronze vitrine by Louis Majorelle also is estimated at $30,000+.

“Once again we’ve put together a great lineup of design and decorative art,” said Tim Rigdon, Director of Decorative Arts. “The European and American offerings are impressive, but the Chinese cloisonné palace vases prove that true decorative beauty knows no borders. Lots across the auction are presented across a variety of price points to satisfy all level of collector.”