Lyon & Turnbull sold a ladderback chair designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for £21,250 at their of Decorative Arts on November the 11th 2015 in Edinburgh. The chair was made for Miss Cranston’s Willow Street Tea Rooms, Glasgow, Scotland and comes from a Private Collection in London. It was given to the vendor as a gift
Mackintosh had produced versions of the traditional ladderback chair before, first for David Gauld in 1893 and then as a bedroom chair at Windyhill in 1901. This understated and deceptively simple design of 1903, for Miss Cranston’s new Willow Tearooms in Sauchiehall Street, is his most successful treatment of this vernacular form. The dark wood against the pale walls and tablecloths of the tearoom interiors accentuated the striking lines of this, one of Mackintosh’s most recognisable chairs.
A piano owned by Barbra Streisand which sold for £4,000, was originally sold in New York at auction in 1994 as part of The Collection of Barbra Streisand.
The Art Deco piano was designed by Krakauer and is made of a polished walnut veneer. Krakauer was an American manufacturer of handmade, high-quality pianos, founded 1869 in New York City by the Jewish immigrant Simon Krakauer, his son David and his brother Julius. Krakauer Brothers was one of the few American piano companies to survive the Great Depression without being absorbed into a larger conglomerate.
Other items in the sale included a Rene Lalique Powder Box which made £3,500, a painted and glazed earthenware dish by Pablo Picasso which made £5,250, a collection of three paintings and sketches by Simeon Solomon made £5,000, £6,250 and £4,250. A large collection of Archibald Knox silver sold well with individual pieces making good prices including a Liberty & Co pewter and enamel clock making £4,250. A wonderful Fivemiletown arts and crafts fendor made £2,125 and a bronze figure by Bruno Zach circa 1920 made £2,500.
The total for the sale including buyers premium was £389,800 and the number of lots sold was 406 from 519 offered.
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