Lounge Chair on Skis by Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann

Lounge Chair on Skis by Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann
This extraordinary adjustable Lounge Chair mounted on skis was reportedly designed for the Maharaja of Indore by Emile-Jacques Ruhlman (1879-1933) in 1929.

Estimate: €2,000,000 – €3,000,000 ($2,814,685 – $4,222,028)
Price Realized: €2,865,000 ($4,067,997)

Sale 1000, Les Collections du Chateau de Gourdon. 29 – 31 March 2011, Paris, France

The note says: While the Maharaja of Indore did in fact commission a desk and a chair and storage units to the exhibited design, he did not order a version of this chaise longue.

via Christie’s.

Lounge Chair B306 by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand

Lounge Chair B306 by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte
Lounge Chair B306 by Le Corbusier (Charles Edouard Jeanneret), his cousin Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand

Estimate Euro 50,000 – 70,000 ($70,367 – $98,514)
Price Realized Euro 121,000 ($171,807)

Sale 1000, Les Collections du Chateau de Gourdon, 29 – 31 March 2011, Paris, France

An adjustable ‘B306’ chaise longue, with chromed tubular steel frame and black-painted pressed and folded steel platform, by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand, with woven-wool textile seat covering, produced by Thonet Frères, Paris, 1930.

Illustrating Le Corbusier’s conviction that furnishings should be ‘machines for living’, the chaise was one of several influential designs conceived 1928-1929 by Le Corbusier, his cousin Pierre Jeanneret, and Charlotte Perriand. The present example is an early version, dating to around early 1930 when the design was first retailed, as evidenced by the raised rear support legs which conform to the April 1929 patent drawings accepted by Thonet. Shortly after serial manufacture commenced, the rear legs were reduced in height to correspond to those at the front. An apparently identical example, also with raised rear legs and hand-woven textile covering, is in the collection of the Vitra Design Museum, Weil-am-Rhein, Germany. An example of the revised design, with all legs of equal height, was presented by Charlotte Perriand at the UAM exhibition of July 1930.

via Christie’s.

Glass Chair by René Coulon for Saint Gobain

Glass Chair by Rene Coulon for Saint Gobain
A tempered glass lounge chair, upholstered in brown hide, by René Coulon (1908-1997), for the Saint-Gobain glassworks, circa 1937

Price Realized: €37,000 ($52,536) at Christie’s in Paris, end of March 2011.

Lilly Chair by Louis Majorelle (1859-1926)

Lilly Chair by Louis Majorelle
A carved American mahogany and gilt-bronze mounted side chair ‘Aux Nénuphars’ (=Lillies), with cane seat, by Louis Majorelle, circa 1905.

In Paris at the end of March for sale at Christie’s.

Estimate €15,000 – €20,000 ($21,143 – $28,191)

As comparision here a photo of a similar chair in oak at an auction of Sotheby’s:
Lilly-Chair-by-Louis-Majorelle-via-Sotheby's-

There it sold for 8,750 GBP.

Settee and two Side Chairs by André Groult (1884-1966)

Settee and two side chairs by andré groult
A sycamore part-ebonised salon suite, comprising of a settee and a pair of side chairs, with velvet upholstery, by André Groult, circa 1913, one signed with the designer’s mark.

Estimate €20,000 – €30,000 ($28,191 – $42,287)

via Christie’s.

Update: Price Realized €26,200 ($37,045) including buyer’s premium.

Last edited by gje on March 31, 2011