Thanks in large part to one dazzling record—the $1.5 million paid in May 2007 for Marc Newson’s aluminum Lockheed Lounge chaise—Christie’s decided to hold its first-ever auction devoted to contemporary design on September 8. Sales were hot but not scorching— proof the market still has room to grow. In all, 21 of 30 lots found buyers, bringing a total of $1.2 million, or 83 percent of the value on offer.

The sale featured a number of design’s current blue-chip names: Maarten Baas, Tom Dixon, Zaha Hadid and Newson. A 2006 piece by Hadid—a set of four stools with toothlike forms covered in high-gloss metallic paint, shown—fetched $86,500 (est. $60–80,000), becoming one of five lots to sell above their estimates. Among the others was Israeli designer Harush Shlomo’s Chairless, 2006, (est. $6,000–8,000) made of crumpled pieces of aluminum riveted together, which earned $16,250.

But the auction’s best-represented designer was Ron Arad, known for his stark lines and cutting-edge technique. All five Arad offerings sold, for a total of $534,500. Two were editions of the monolithic Blo-Void 2 lounge chair—designed in 2006 and constructed of polished aluminum with a mesh sitting surface—which made $68,500 each, just shy of their high estimate of $70,000. D, a couch in the form of a sinuous steel wave, was the most expensive lot of the auction, going for $206,500 (est. $200–300,000).

Also showcased was work by Shiro Kuramata, a Japanese designer who died in 1991 and was known for lighthearted, slightly surreal pieces. All three of his lots were purchased, for a total of $229,500, including Feather Stool, 1990—a solid block of clear acrylic embedded with a smattering of seemingly floating feathers (est. $80– 100,000)—which achieved $86,500. A similar chair sold for $120,300 last year at a Christie’s London sale.

Carina Villinger, the Christie’s head of sale, says the market for this category is solid but evolving: “Design and art have grown closer over the past few years. Our clients have embraced design as a new aesthetic.” "A Design First" originally appeared in the November 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's November 2008 Table of Contents.