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COLLECTABLES
Furniture designed for investors, more or less
DESIGNER furniture comes full circle with contemporary architects creating new buildings to show furniture first made by architects for their buildings 80 years before.
Investment eyes turned back to the sale room this month with the appearance of more stunning modern furniture at auction in Sydney.
The July 22 sale at Shapiro auctions in Woollahra featured a spectacular collection of 20th century art and design, with quality works by the likes of Florence Knoll, Aldo Tura, Finn Juhl, Gustav Siegel and Josef Hoffman.
The sale included a fine selection of Australian art ceramics sold earlier that day, which was followed by a strong group of increasingly interesting lithographs and woodcuts by Lionel Lindsay, available for under $500 a pop.
While prices ranged up to $35,000 for a modern silver by George Jensen, furniture was comparatively bargain-priced, with famous models by internationally acclaimed designers ranging from a few hundred dollars to $20,000.
Quality international designs are good value in Australia and can bring twice the local price if re-offered in London or New York sale rooms, and even more on a retail floor overseas.
Buyers look for first-generation items in first-class condition with little or no restoration, and preferably a provenance to the first buyer or at least the shop or decorator who originally supplied it.
The term "first generation" denotes pieces made from the original design and at that time, whereas second-generation examples are follow-ons made, sometimes commercially, a few years later, and third-generation versions could be entirely modern replicas.
While among the most popular of 20th century designers, with many designs still in production 70 years on, work by the German architect Mies van der Rohe seemed particularly good value in Sydney.