Auction Results: Design at Phillips de Pury & Company London
A Sign of Growth in the Design Market
London
On September 27 2011 Phillips de Pury & Company hosted one of the most exciting sales of the design market season so far - bringing in a total of £2,052,525 the sale made 2.69% above their average estimated income.
The ceramics in the auction caught the attention of bidders, selling far above their estimated values. For example, Lucie Rie's 'pot (1972)' sold for £15,000 5 times above Phillips de Pury & Co's estimate and, the highest selling lot, Hans Copper's 'Swinton School Wall Mural', sold for £181,250 over 2 times the estimated value.
Overall 50% of the sales sold above their average estimated value, which are often inflated to encourage bidding in the first place. At this auction people were ready to spend money on the design objects to add to their collection. This could be a reflection of the continued refinement of the collectors design tastes. As the market continues to grow, we should see more of this confident bidding in the future.
Not only did buyers bid over the estimate 50% of the time, they also bought most of the objects on offer. With 73.72% of the sales purchased this auction has finally given us a better outlook on the market.
Like most design auctions this sale was padded with plenty of very collectible mid-century modern pieces. The average year a work in the auction was created is 1965, with 52.5% of the sale consisting of postwar/modern design objects. Interestingly though, only 68.1% of these crowd pleasers sold - postmodern works faired much better. Making up 23.4% of sales in the auction, 96.9% of the postmodern works sold. Even more interesting, postmodern works fetched the highest average price per lot at £18,013.28.
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Key Findings-
Auction Total Value: £2,052,525
Auction Total Average Estimate: £1,998,800
Number of Lots: 137
Percentage Lots Sold: 73.72%
Average Year of Work: 1965
| Art Deco | Modern | Postmodern | Contemporary | ||
| # Lots | 17 | 72 | 32 | 16 | |
| Total Value | £189,075.00 | £1,039,250.00 | £576,425.00 | £247,775.00 | |
| Average PPL* | £11,122.06 | £14,434.03 | £18,013.28 | £15,485.94 | |
| % Sold | 71% | 68% | 97% | 56% | |
*price per lot
Breakdown of Sales by Period
Sales vs Estimate
