Debut Design Sale Misses Estimates at Phillips U.K.

LONDON—Phillips de Pury's premier sale of modern and contemporary design in the U.K. failed to reach its low estimate last week, netting £2.3 million ($4.6 million) with fees against a revised estimate of £2.4–3.3 million, reports Bloomberg. About 69 percent of the 244 lots sold.

Phillips's last design sale, in New York in December, raised $7 million from 270 lots, 64 percent of which sold.

Alexander Payne, Phillips's worldwide director of design, said that unlike New York and Paris, London lacks an infrastructure of galleries specializing in modern and contemporary design. "But considering that this was a big sale and that a lot of this material had never been offered in London before," he said, "we were delighted with the result.''

The sale's top lot was a black carbon-fiber table by London-based "design art" star Marc Newson, which sold for £168,500, near its low estimate, to a single anonymous bidder. Works that sold well above their estimates included Ron Arad's stainless steel Big Easy Volume 2 sofa, a walnut chest of drawers by Gio Ponti, and a painted metal hanging light by Ettore Sottsass.