The French Eye - Property from a Los Angeles Collection

Auction Details

<p>To compose a collection is to capture the game of chance’
Nothing better describes the spirit and energy of thiscollection, born in the madcap and feverishly creative roaring 20s, or better expresses the essence of the “French Eye” that composed it for a Californian home.

<p>To compose a collection, as if by accident. In the same way as the Surrealists composed their seemingly haphazard poems and spawned their impossible creature-like paintings. Or as Jean-Michel Frank and Robert Mallet-Stevens, Christian Bérard, Alberto Giacometti and Robsjohn Gibbings, Eileen Gray and Pierre Chareau recomposed a world in an apparently random reorganization of space, volume and lines.

<p>The French Eye has that noble and serene trait of trusting itself, and itself alone, to detect a nascent art form that one day will become a classic. A free-thinking yet disciplined appraiser of fashions and styles, this eye is eccentric yet incisive, nourished by the passementerie and brocades
of Louis XV and the implacable lines of Louis XVI that fore-
shadowed modernity.

<p>Thriving on paradox, this is the knowing and avant-garde eye that explores and caresses the object, intrinsically comprehending what it is: its substance, its line and, above all, its feel. The surface over which the collector’s expert fingers can detect its authenticity or its deception, its sense or its enigma, its inventiveness and its brilliance. In a flash, this eye arbitrarily decides on the object, rediscovering and revealing it, seizing its true beauty and restoring it to life.

<p>Of course, posterity has done its job of glorifying or betraying, of sifting and categorizing all of these objects. It has confirmed the eye even more than the prestigious name that has brought them together. This collection is the singular story of a journey of forgotten objects revived by the eye of the collector, an aesthete and man of taste : the emotive Theatrical Mask exiled from the stage, the hieratic elegance of the Renaissance mantelpiece, an early Dali that Marie-Laure de Noailles, one of the great aesthetic adventurers of the 20th Century and icon of this style, once hung between a Watteau and a Goya in her Parisian Town mansion, decorated by Jean-Michel Frank.

<p>This arbitrary and paradoxical game of chance has also revealed the unknown artist, a mysterious sculptor and perhaps master undetected, until now, by posterity, whose probing poetry placed a mad world on the shoulders of four men in the form of a globe, its map ripped apart and redrawn between two
world wars.

<p>Surrounded by Giacometti’s Leaf, Cat and Lioness on the mathematically rigorous metal and oak console by Mallet-Stevens, this bronze of ring-dancing men gives a forceful masculine balance to the extremely feminine house dreamed up by Robert Couturier for a woman. A house filled with white silk and witty elegant materials in bright colors, all cut in seductive lines that has led Roger Prigent to aptly remark, “Robert Couturier has not made a house, he has made a ball gown”. A grand evening gown designed in the spirit of the legendary costumes balls
of the 20s and 30s, which were paroxysms of inventive frivolity and fun, rare
and exhilarating moments in celebration of beauty and life, in the wake of World War I. Indeed, Robert Couturier’s house for a lady recalls the lifestyle of Marie-Laure and her husband that great arbiter of taste, Charles de Noailles in their South of France Villa built by Mallet-Stevens, where they revived a holiday version of the 18th century salon tradition, frequented by many of the great artists of their time.

<p>These many past and present images are reflected in the Mirror by Serge Roche, the imaginary and abstract root of this collection. Serge Roche cut and fragmented the Venetian glass into a radically modern structure, breaking old rules to create new ones, which is the very essence of modernity. An insolent and sensual tribute to the 30s and 4Os, this mirror reminds us that their powerful vitality and indomitable intelligence is more alive than ever.

<p>Many great collections owe their existence to the power and fragility, the structure and liberty of the French Eye. The eye of the unconventional and audacious collector who appreciates the luminous and ascetic elegance of Jean-Michel Frank’s parchment and sycamore furniture or style of straw marquetry yet still discerns a thousand discreetly valuable little objects, from the slender extravagance of the Nautiles by Bolette Natanson to the ceramics by Savin. This elegant and eclectic eye has a poetic quality that places the moving humanity and disquieting dream-like fragility of Christian Bérard’s paintings in a whimsical world combining futuristic and minimalist objects like Royere’s wall lamps, a 16th century stone mantelpiece or a bed by Frank with an almost baroque 19th century Italian console in a mysterious dialogue with the implacable strictness of a cabinet by Arbus, an Empire chair and a plaster cast tree standing lamp.

<p>“To compose a collection is to capture the game of chance” is what Robert Couturier and Philippe Lauro-Baranes say with some modesty and a little hesitation. Certainly, a few discerning collectors, gallerists, experts and amateurs of everything stylish and recherché will be more than happy to accompany them on the journey presented to you today.
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PROPERTY FROM A LOS ANGELES COLLECTION DIEGO1 - PROPERTY FROM A LOS ANGELES COLLECTION DIEGO
Phillips de Pury & Company
PROPERTY FROM A LOS ANGELES COLLECTION DIEGO GIACOMETTI Gilt-bronze door plate 12 x 57/8 in. (30.5 x 15 cm) Estimate: $8,000-12,000 Provenance A Priva
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 8,000.00 - 12,000.00
 
 
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DIEGO GIACOMETTI TWO PAIRS OF GILT-BRONZE DOO1A - DIEGO GIACOMETTI TWO PAIRS OF GILT-BRONZE DOO
Phillips de Pury & Company
DIEGO GIACOMETTI TWO PAIRS OF GILT-BRONZE DOORPLATES WITH KNOBS (4) each 111/2 x 37/8 in. (29.2 x 9.8 cm) Estimate: $7,000-9,000 Provenance See lot 1
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 7,000.00 - 9,000.00
 
 
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DIEGO GIACOMETTI TWO PAIRS OF GILT-BRONZE DOO2 - DIEGO GIACOMETTI TWO PAIRS OF GILT-BRONZE DOO
Phillips de Pury & Company
DIEGO GIACOMETTI TWO PAIRS OF GILT-BRONZE DOORPLATES WITH HANDLES (4) the doorplates 111/2 x 37/8 in. (29.2 x 9.8 cm) the handles 43/4 in. (12.1 cm) l
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 7,000.00 - 9,000.00
 
 
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DIEGO GIACOMETTI TWO PAIRS OF GILT-BRONZE DOO3 - DIEGO GIACOMETTI TWO PAIRS OF GILT-BRONZE DOO
Phillips de Pury & Company
DIEGO GIACOMETTI TWO PAIRS OF GILT-BRONZE DOORPLATES one of the pairs with handles, the other with knobs; together with one doorplate and a pair of do
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 7,000.00 - 9,000.00
 
 
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DIEGO GIACOMETTI TWO PAIRS OF GILT-BRONZE DOO4 - DIEGO GIACOMETTI TWO PAIRS OF GILT-BRONZE DOO
Phillips de Pury & Company
DIEGO GIACOMETTI TWO PAIRS OF GILT-BRONZE DOORPLATES WITH HANDLES (4) the doorplates 111/2 x 37/8 in. (29.2 x 9.8 cm) the handles 45/8 in. (11.7 cm) l
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 7,000.00 - 9,000.00
 
 
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BAGUÈS PAIR OF SCONCES, CA. 1940 reverse gilt5 - BAGUÈS PAIR OF SCONCES, CA. 1940 reverse gilt
Phillips de Pury & Company
BAGUÈS PAIR OF SCONCES, CA. 1940 reverse gilt and engraved mirror and gilt iron, mounted on wood (2) 163/4 in. (42.5 cm) high Estimate: $5,000-...
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 5,000.00 - 7,000.00
 
 
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FOLKE BENSOW PAIR OF "Snäckan" STOOLS, CA. 196 - FOLKE BENSOW PAIR OF "Snäckan" STOOLS, CA. 19
Phillips de Pury & Company
FOLKE BENSOW PAIR OF "Snäckan" STOOLS, CA. 1925 designed for the 1925 Exposition International des Arts Décoratifs et Industriel...
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 4,000.00 - 6,000.00
 
 
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SERGE ROCHE PAIR OF SCONCES, CA. 1937 plaster7 - SERGE ROCHE PAIR OF SCONCES, CA. 1937 plaster
Phillips de Pury & Company
SERGE ROCHE PAIR OF SCONCES, CA. 1937 plaster (2) 63/4 in. (17.2 cm) high Estimate: $4,000-6,000 Provenance Anne-Sophie Duval, Paris
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 4,000.00 - 6,000.00
 
 
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FRENCH NEOCLASSICAL-STYLE Plaster MASK inscri8 - FRENCH NEOCLASSICAL-STYLE Plaster MASK inscri
Phillips de Pury & Company
FRENCH NEOCLASSICAL-STYLE Plaster MASK inscribed "P. LÉAVTÉ/1967" 38 x 261/2 x 211/2 in. (96.5 x 67.3 x 54.6 cm) Estimate: $8,00...
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 8,000.00 - 12,000.00
 
 
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BOLETTE NATANSON Pair of 'NAUTILUS' LAMPs, CA9 - BOLETTE NATANSON Pair of 'NAUTILUS' LAMPs, CA
Phillips de Pury & Company
BOLETTE NATANSON Pair of 'NAUTILUS' LAMPs, CA. 1930 shell and painted metal (2) 173/4 in. (45.1 cm) high Estimate: $12,000-15,000 Provenance...
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 12,000.00 - 15,000.00
 
 
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FRENCH SIX-PANEL SCREEN, CA. 1930s in the man10 - FRENCH SIX-PANEL SCREEN, CA. 1930s in the man
Phillips de Pury & Company
FRENCH SIX-PANEL SCREEN, CA. 1930s in the manner of Jean-Michel Frank, straw marquetry in sunburst pattern on front and back each panel approximately
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 20,000.00 - 30,000.00
 
 
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PAIR OF FRENCH UPHOLSTERED OAK OTTOMANS, CA.11 - PAIR OF FRENCH UPHOLSTERED OAK OTTOMANS, CA.
Phillips de Pury & Company
PAIR OF FRENCH UPHOLSTERED OAK OTTOMANS, CA. 1930s (2) 181/2 in. (47 cm) high Estimate: $4,000-6,000
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 4,000.00 - 6,000.00
 
 
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RENÉ PROU PAIR OF BENCHES, CA. 1940 gold-pain12 - RENÉ PROU PAIR OF BENCHES, CA. 1940 gold-pain
Phillips de Pury & Company
RENÉ PROU PAIR OF BENCHES, CA. 1940 gold-painted iron reupholstered in calfskin (2) 18 in. (45.7 cm) high Estimate: $12,000-18,000
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 12,000.00 - 18,000.00
 
 
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PROPERTY OF ANOTHER OWNER T. H. ROBSJOHN-GIBB13 - PROPERTY OF ANOTHER OWNER T. H. ROBSJOHN-GIBB
Phillips de Pury & Company
PROPERTY OF ANOTHER OWNER T. H. ROBSJOHN-GIBBINGS LOW TABLE FROM THE CASA ENCANTADA, BEL AIR, CALIFORNIA, CA. 1937 manufactured by Peterson Studios oa
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 4,000.00 - 6,000.00
 
 
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PROPERTY FROM A LOS ANGELES COLLECTION T. H.14 - PROPERTY FROM A LOS ANGELES COLLECTION T. H.
Phillips de Pury & Company
PROPERTY FROM A LOS ANGELES COLLECTION T. H. ROBSJOHN-GIBBINGS sofa and pair of armchairs FROM THE CASA ENCANTADA, BEL AIR, CALIFORNIA, CA. 1937 manuf
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 30,000.00 - 50,000.00
 
 
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GILBERT POILLERAT SIX-LIGHT LANTERN, CA. 194815 - GILBERT POILLERAT SIX-LIGHT LANTERN, CA. 1948
Phillips de Pury & Company
GILBERT POILLERAT SIX-LIGHT LANTERN, CA. 1948 iron, partially gilt approximately 561/2 in. (143.5 cm) high 235/16 in. (59.2 cm) diameter Estimate: $50
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 50,000.00 - 70,000.00
 
 
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MAISON JANSEN PAIR OF OBELISK LAMPS, CA. 195016 - MAISON JANSEN PAIR OF OBELISK LAMPS, CA. 1950
Phillips de Pury & Company
MAISON JANSEN PAIR OF OBELISK LAMPS, CA. 1950 brass, partially silvered, and Lucite (2) 303/4 in. (78.1 cm) high Estimate: $4,000-6,000
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 4,000.00 - 6,000.00
 
 
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MAISON JANSEN LOW TABLE, CA. 1940s painted an17 - MAISON JANSEN LOW TABLE, CA. 1940s painted an
Phillips de Pury & Company
MAISON JANSEN LOW TABLE, CA. 1940s painted and gilt iron and mirrored top 13 x 37 x 235/8 in. (33 x 94 x 60 cm) Estimate: $10,000-15,000
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 10,000.00 - 15,000.00
 
 
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JEAN ROYÈRE PAIR OF SIX-LIGHT SCONCES, CA. 1918 - JEAN ROYÈRE PAIR OF SIX-LIGHT SCONCES, CA. 19
Phillips de Pury & Company
JEAN ROYÈRE PAIR OF SIX-LIGHT SCONCES, CA. 1950 red-painted metal (2) 32 x 225/8 x 101/2 in. (81.3 x 57.5 x 26.6 cm) Estimate: $30,000-40,000 P...
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 30,000.00 - 40,000.00
 
 
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DIEGO GIACOMETTI LIONNE plaster 21/2 x 2 x 2119 - DIEGO GIACOMETTI LIONNE plaster 21/2 x 2 x 21
Phillips de Pury & Company
DIEGO GIACOMETTI LIONNE plaster 21/2 x 2 x 21/8 in. (6.4 x 5.1 x 5.3 cm) Estimate: $5,000-8,000 Provenance Acquired from the artist, ca. 1970 Galerie
Bidding Has Concluded
Estimate : 5,000.00 - 8,000.00
 
 
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