Departed but not dead
Dealer mania - selling the inventories of antiques dealers on the auction block - is sweeping the salerooms calendar. London alone has witnessed five such sales in the past year. But this month Manhattan claims centre stage with Christie's and Sotheby's holding dealer-driven auctions with a combined value of $20m.
Interestingly, these auctions say as much about the prevailing taste for antiques as luxury goods as they do about the fast-changing nature of the trade and the intense rivalry of the big two auction houses.
ADVERTISEMENT
"There's a greater demand today for the very best antiques, like fine French furniture chairs distinguished by important provenance, as today's market is skewed towards the top end," says Will Strafford, Christie's European furniture specialist. Strafford and his colleagues are betting that their October 19 sale of dix-huitième siècle antiques from the revered Paris dealer Maurice Segoura will ring down an impressive $8m for just over 240 lots. The sale is New York-based because, says Segoura, who is retiring, "80 per cent of my clients reside there".
On October 20 Sotheby's is selling the select antiques of Manhattan dealer Anthony Ingrao, with a staggering estimated total of $12m.
Already both auction houses are ratcheting up the stakes to snare clients. No less than couturier Hubert de Givenchy has testified to the renown of Segoura in the Christie's catalogue. "Place Fran?ois 1er will not be the same now that my dear friend Maurice Segoura has departed . . . but the memories remain of all the wonderful moments that Maurice has given us," wrote the designer, whose clothes for Audrey Hepburn were acclaimed by the fashion world.
Christie's recruited the Chilean-born, New York-based designer Juan Pablo Molyneux to turn his hand to the Segoura sale installation. Viewers can expect a gilt-edged interior.
But then Segoura is no ordinary dealer. "Virtually every important 18th-century furniture collector, from private clients to museum curators, passed through his doors to absorb the go?t Segoura," says Strafford. His clients included fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, the industrialist Paul Desmarais and the late banker Edmond Safra.
Leading the sale is a Louis XV ormolu-mounted tulipwood, bois satiné and marquetry commode, circa 1750, bearing the mark of Jean-Pierre Latz and an estimate of$1.5m-$2m. Marie Antoinette fans may fancy a Louis XVI gilt-wood demi-lune console from the Palais des Tuileries. Newly wealthy Russians may favour something from their homeland: a pair of 1800 gilt-bronze consoles with tops of a rare Italian marble, serpentine moschinata, and friezes of Revna jasper mined in Siberia. They're believed to have been produced by the Kolyvan Imperial stone-cutting workshop and bear an estimate of $500,000-$800,000.
At Sotheby's, enthusiasts can expect a predominantly English array. Ingrao is not just a dealer; he also presides over a firm that offers architectural and design services. His contacts book includes clients such as Jack Welch, former head of General Electric, droves of hedge fund managers and Kim Cattrall, of Sex and the City renown. Ingrao's projects include an 11th-century monastery in France, Manhattan penthouses and vast neo-Georgian estates in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Why the sale? For one thing, Ingrao's design work is on a roll. Five years ago, he was completing about 12 design projects annually. Now, that figure has doubled. "I noticed that an increasing number of clients were opting for fewer antiques," he says. Rather than a full set of 18th-century Chippendale dining table, chairs, sideboard and wine cooler, his clients were requesting one or two antiques and relying on custom upholstered pieces. In continuing to maintain his ravishing gallery on East 64th Street, for Ingrao the Sotheby's auction is a way of retooling his business.
The Ingrao antiques up for sale are not routine decorator rejects. The major names of 18th-century cabinetwork - such as Thomas Chippendale and John Cobb - abound. Deep-pocketed collectors are bound to zero in on a pair of robustly carved George II mahogany consoles centred with a mask of Hercules by Matthias Lock. Their importance is reflected in the weighty estimate of $600,000-$800,000. There's also a pair of George III mahogany library chairs from Newhailes House, near Edinburgh, which Sotheby's has pegged to fetch $300,000-$500,000.
Ingrao also focused on pieces that can be categorised as idiosyncratically chic. One example is a pair of George IV ormolu and steel chenets topped by snarling sea dragons with fully chased scales, expected to make $80,000-$120,000.
But the sale isn't just about period furniture. There's a 1979 Karl Springer circular table topped with all manner of bird feathers - under glass, of course. Other 20th-century pieces include Diego Giacometti patinated bronze armchairs with arms ending in lion's heads and a Paul Evans 1970 sideboard in gilt and enamelled steel.
Does the spate of dealer sales signal another drum roll for the trade? The reasons for dealers selling at auction vary. "There's a natural ageing process going on among some dealers," says Strafford of Christie's, pointing out that Maurice Segoura's children registered no desire to take over the business when he announced his retirement. (Fran?ois Pinault, owner of Christie's, will take over the Segoura space.) And dealer sales are very lucrative. When Christie's New York auctioned off the inventory of London's Partridge Fine Arts, the total hit a staggering $14,855,560 against a $10m estimate on May 17.
So it's not that antiques are dead but that buyers are opting for different ways of shopping. "Part of the success can be attributed to the fact that showcasing inventory in an auction house setting is a way of rebranding," says Strafford.
Christie's Segoura preview, October 14-18 2006, 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York; Sotheby's Anthony Ingrao preview, October 13-19 2006, 1334 York Avenue, New York
古董商“后继乏人”
拍
卖行业正掀起一股经销商拍卖热潮：在专场拍卖活动中出售古董经销商的库存藏品。过去一年间，单是伦敦就举办过5场这样的拍卖。这个月，纽约曼哈顿成为此类拍卖活动的中心舞台：在佳士得(Christie's)与苏富比(Sotheby's)两大拍卖行将要举办的经销商专场拍卖中，拍品价值合计达2000万美元。
古董成为奢侈品
有趣的是，这些拍卖既展现了将古董当作奢侈品的流行品位，也同样显示了拍卖业快速变革的性质，以及两大拍卖行之间的激烈竞争。
佳士得拍卖行欧洲家具业务专家威尔?斯特拉福德(Will Strafford)说：“对于极品家具，比如有着名家传承的精美法国家用座椅，当下市场有着很庞大的需求。今天的市场正朝高端发展。”斯特拉福德和同事们正进行豪赌，认定他们于10月19日进行的“十八世纪”古董拍卖中，240件拍品将拍到800万美元之巨。此次拍卖在纽约进行，拍品来自大名鼎鼎的巴黎经销商莫里斯?塞古拉(Maurice Segoura)，即将退休塞古拉的说：“我的客户80%住在纽约。”
10月20日，苏富比将拍卖曼哈顿经销商安东尼?英格劳(Anthony Ingrao)古董收藏中的精品，总价值预计达到惊人的1200万美元。
两大拍卖公司的激烈竞争
两家拍卖公司都在加大赌注，以求抢夺客户，其力度正如女装设计师休伯特?德?吉旺希（Hubert de Givenchy）在佳士得拍品目录中对其好友塞古拉声名的证明一样大。这位设计师写道：“我亲爱的朋友莫里斯?塞古拉已经离开了，但莫里斯给我们带来的所有美好瞬间依然存留在我们的记忆中。”Givenchy为奥戴丽?赫本(Audrey Hepburn)设计的服装曾深受时尚界推崇。
佳士得请来了生于智利在纽约开业的设计师胡安?帕布洛?毛利纽克斯(Juan Pablo Molyneux)，让他承担塞古拉藏品拍卖的设计。此次拍卖会的参观者将看到最一流的装饰设计。
不过，塞古拉并非普通经销商。斯特拉福德说：“基本上所有的18世纪家具收藏者，不论是私人客户还是博物馆馆长，都要从他那里学习独特的塞古拉品味。”斯特拉福德的客户包括时装设计师卡尔?拉格菲尔德(Karl Lagerfeld)、实业家保罗?戴斯玛莱斯(Paul Desmarais)和已故银行家埃德蒙德?萨夫拉(Edmond Safra)。
领衔这次塞古拉专场拍卖的是一个路易十五式梳妆台，该梳妆台为郁金香木制成，表面精美光滑，镀金装饰，镶嵌细致，留有让-皮埃尔?拉兹(Jean-Pierre Latz)的封印，大约制作于1750年，估计售价在150万到200万美元。如果你是玛丽?安托瓦内特(Marie Antoinette)的支持者，你或许会痴迷于一个出自杜伊勒里宫(Palais des Tuileries)、路易十六式、半月形的木制涂金储物柜。俄罗斯新富们或许会喜欢一些来自他们家乡的古董：一对1800年的青铜镀金储物柜，顶部有罕见的意大利大理石雕刻和盘旋形陶瓷，柜壁上装饰有产自西伯利亚的利弗拉河(Revna)碧玉。据信，这对柜子由俄罗斯Kolyvan Imperial时期的石雕作坊制作，其价格估计在50万到80万美元。
而在苏富比，古董迷们将可期待一个英国风格占主导地位的拍卖设计。英格劳不仅是一位经销商，他还管理着一家公司，提供建筑和设计服务。在他的客户名册上，不仅有前通用电气(GE)的杰克?韦尔奇(Jack Welch)，还有大批的对冲基金经理，以及因《欲望都市》(Sex and the City)而名声大噪的吉姆?卡特罗(Kim Cattrall)。英格劳主持的项目包括法国的一座11世纪风格的修道院、曼哈顿屋顶公寓，以及位于美国康涅狄格州格林威治镇的大片新乔治亚风格的房产项目。
英格劳为何要出售古董收藏呢？首先，他的设计事业正快速发展。5年前，他每年完成约12件设计项目。现在，这一数字已经翻倍。他表示：“我注意到，越来越多的客户开始选用较少的古董家具。”客户们往往不再选择全套的18世纪齐本德尔式餐桌、椅子、餐具柜和酒具柜，而只是要求有一两样古董出现，摆在定制的豪华装饰套件旁边。对英格劳来说，为了继续维持他在曼哈顿东64大街蔚为壮观的收藏室，苏富比此次的拍卖乃是他借以调整业务的一个方式。
英格劳此次出售的藏品绝非常规装饰者所摒弃之物，18世纪细木家具设计大师的作品非常之多，比如托马斯?齐本德尔(Thomas Chippendale)和约翰?考伯(John Cobb)等。在富有的收藏者眼中，争夺的焦点肯定是一对雕琢有力的乔治二世时的桃花心木储物柜。这两只柜子中间装饰有马蒂亚斯?洛克(Matthias Lock)雕刻的大力神(Hercules)雕像。柜子估价在60万到80万美元，其重要性可见一斑。另外还有一对乔治三世时的桃花心木书房椅，产自爱丁堡附近的Newhailes House。苏富比对这对椅子的要价将是30到50万美元。
此外，英格劳还重点挑选了可被视为特殊款式的藏品。比如有一对乔治四世时代的镀金钢制家俱，顶部有海龙缠绕，海龙身上的鳞片雕刻的栩栩如生。这件拍品的售价估计在8万到12万之间。
但此次拍卖并非只出售某个特定时期的家具。参拍的还有一张1979年出自卡尔?斯波林格(Karl Springer)之手的圆桌,这张桌子的桌面缀满了各式各样的鸟类羽毛，当然这都是在玻璃下面的；其它的20世纪拍品还包括迪亚哥?杰克梅第(Diego Giacometti)设计的、古色古香的青铜扶手椅，其椅把尽头分别是两只狮子头；另外一件则是保罗?埃文斯1970年设计的镀金餐具柜，质地为搪瓷钢。
经销商专场的幕后原因
经销商专场拍卖热潮涌动，是否表明这个行业再度擂起了战鼓呢？
拍卖行举办经销商专场的原因各不相同。佳士得的斯特拉福德说：“对一些经销商而言，他们面临一个自然的年老过程。”他指出，当莫里斯?塞古拉宣布引退时，他的子女并无意愿去继承他的事业。佳士得的拥有者弗朗索瓦?皮诺(Fran?ois Pinault)将接管塞古拉留下的空间。经销商专场也非常有利可图。佳士得曾于今年5月17日在纽约为伦敦的Partridge Fine Arts举办专场拍卖，其拍卖总金额最后达到惊人的1485.556万美元，而此前的预测数字则是1000万美元。
因此，这一切并不是说古董已经失宠了，而是表明买家在选择不同的购买方式。斯特拉福德表示：“有一个事实是，拍卖公司用于展示的拍品正重塑品牌，这也是一些专场拍卖能成功的原因之一。”
佳士得的塞古拉专场预展：
时间：2006年10月14日至18日；
地点：纽约洛克菲勒广场；
苏富比的安东尼英格劳专场预展：
时间2006年10月13日至19日；
地点：纽约约克大道。
