CHICAGO/NEW YORK—Prepared for the worst, the major auction houses breathed a collective sigh of relief after their December design sales. Overall, results were below estimates, as buyers exhibited a new conservative streak, either switching their allegiance from provocative contemporary works to the safety of old standards or declining to purchase anything at all. Still, some reassuring high spots buoyed hopes and brought a much-needed lift to the glum holiday season.

The sales started off slowly in Chicago on December 9 and 11, as Wright failed to sell nearly half of the lots it offered. "Obviously, we are facing a tough market," says the auction house owner, Richard Wright. The prices for many of the pieces that did find buyers hovered around their relatively low estimates. For instance, Harry Bertoia’s Untitled (Dandelion), 1962 one of seven sculptures that the artist created for New York’s 1964 World’s Fair (est. $200-300,000), squeaked by at $192,000. Work by designers who typically lead the auctions, such as George Nakashima and the Italian stars Ico Parisi and Gaetano Pesce, brought lower-than-expected sums or failed to attract bidders, and contemporary designs from names like Marc Newson and Rolf Sachs were passed. Even the 41 lots from the historically significant Empire State Building archive reaped what Wright described as "subdued" results. The sale did manage one triumph: A 1957 silver and steel Maria Pergay table that was custom-made for the wife of the Algerian ambassador to France (est. $60-80,000) sold for $112,800.

A few days later, Christie’s took aim at serious collectors with three modest-size sales featuring designs mostly by proven sellers, some of which came with aggressive estimates that made no concession to a recession mentality. "We set the bar high," admits the international head of 20th-century decorative arts and design, Philippe Garner, "but these objects are exceptional." Despite lower-than-usual sell-throughs, Christie’s grossed $9.2 million, a figure that was well within the presale estimate of $8.6 million to $12.8 million and put the house ahead of its competition in a dicey season.

Christie’s led off on December 15 with the single-owner sale of mostly French Art Deco furnishings from the Palm Beach residence of Frayda and George Lindemann, the billionaire parents of the prominent contemporary-art enthusiast Adam. The house had reportedly offered a guarantee on the 54 objects, banking on their salability, and the outcome proved it right: 42 of the lots sold, bringing in $3,578,250. Top earners included two major pieces by Paul Dupré-Lafon: a 1940s parchment, oak and patinated-bronze table-desk with a swivel chair (est. $300-500,000), which went for $458,500, and another desk-and-chair ensemble (est. $300-500,000), which made $302,500. Later in the session, an eye-catching Claude Lalanne round dining table with six chairs, from 1996 (est. $200-300,000), reached $314,500, setting an auction record for the designer.

The highest price of the week was achieved the next day, at the house’s 20th-century decorative art and design sale, by the 1949 Carlo Mollino table that graced the catalogue cover. The earliest known version of Mollino’s biomorphic Arabesque tables, this distinctive laminated-plywood and glass piece was snapped up by the New York dealer Brian Kish for $1,314,500 — a sum comfortably above the high estimate of $1.2 million but not surprising for an iconic item with impeccable provenance. "It was consigned by the family of the original owners," says Garner. "Few pieces like that come to market."

Beyond the Mollino, though, the sale experienced some turbulence. A quirky Line Vautrin chandelier and a rare Bugatti silver tray failed to find buyers, and a Ron Arad carbon-fiber table from 2002 (est. $100-150,000) never took off. The implosion of the Arad piece was one indication that buyers were favoring midcentury designs, such as the 1950s Jean Royère chandelier (est. $50-70,000) that brought $62,500. There were, however, exceptions to this rule. Maurice Calka’s white fiberglass Boomerang desk and chair from 1970 (est. $10-15,000), for instance, mushroomed to $35,000.