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Craft, Value, Legacy: Inside the Design Auction That Had Everyone Bidding

Craft, Value, Legacy: Inside the Design Auction That Had Everyone Bidding May 11, 2025Art Auction, London0 Comments

The Art of the Object: Phillips London Reignites the Collectible Design Market

London never whispers when it comes to design. And on April 30th, 2025, at Phillips’ legendary Berkeley Square showroom, it spoke in rare forms, impeccable provenance, and the spirited language of global collectors vying not for trends, but for timelessness.

With a total of £3.57 million achieved and a commanding 94% sell-through by lot, the Design auction was more than a sale — it was a celebration of vision made tangible. Phillips reaffirmed what the truly discerning already know: collectible design is no longer a niche, it’s an art form in its own right. And this season, it came dressed in French lacquer, Nordic floralism, American brutalism, and Italian futurism.

At the heart of it all stood Judy Kensley McKie’s ‘Leopard Couch’, which pounced past estimates to a roaring £177,800. More sculpture than seating, it was a talismanic centerpiece — the kind of piece that lives not in a room, but defines it.

The Italians made a resounding statement, with Carlo Scarpa’s rare ceiling light dazzling at more than four times its estimate — a luminous echo of 1930s design modernism at its finest. Ettore Sottsass Jr., ever the design anarchist, also made waves with a lidded jar that nearly tripled expectations, reminding us all that even the smallest vessel can carry infinite aesthetic weight.

French elegance held its own, thanks to Jean Royère, whose ‘Ondulation’ coffee table and ten-armed ‘Bouquet’ wall light sold for over £165,000 and £107,950, respectively. These are not just decorative pieces — they are dreamscapes rendered in brass and form.

And then came the poetic restraint of Josef Frank’s ‘Flora’ cabinet, a Nordic nod to the organic that quietly surpassed three times its estimate. Because sometimes, silence sings louder than excess.

It was also a banner moment for textiles: Ivan da Silva Bruhns’ 1927 carpet, in the centennial year of Art Deco, served not just as a floor covering but as a time capsule — and it sold for triple its estimate.

Phillips’ success here wasn’t just in numbers (although the 42 countries represented speak volumes). It was in reaffirming design as a cultural compass — one that points not only to beauty, but to value, legacy, and the evolving tastes of collectors who want their spaces to speak.

Because in a world spinning ever faster, the allure of the crafted, the storied, the rare — is more powerful than ever.

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