Earlier in the day, Christie’s offered 52 Tiffany lots, 46 of which sold — many well over their estimates. Of the nine objects that brought more than $100,000, the most expensive was a Wisteria lamp from the estate of Mr. and Mrs. William F. Buckley, Jr., which went for $410,500 (est. $200-300,000). Three other lamps also sold well above their six-figure high estimates, attesting to the continuing strength of this segment.

Phillips de Pury & Company’s auction on December 17 was the most adventurous of the week, featuring a variety of envelope-pushing works that included a fine group of contemporary ceramics. Ben Williams, the specialist who has been developing the ceramic component of the sale since last year, believes that clay pieces are all the more appealing when seen alongside expensive design offerings. "We’re showing objects priced from $4,000 to $50,000 to people accustomed to spending $100,000 for furniture," he says. Offerings included works by Hans Coper, Lucie Rie and several outstanding Japanese potters. In the last group, the contemporary ceramicist Morihiro Wada realized an auction high when his Vessel, Pattern from Inner Image, 1985, sold for $23,750, besting a high estimate of $14,000.

As a rule, however, the Phillips results were lackluster. Many of the sale highlights were bought in, including a couple of highly anticipated Arad chairs: a 2006 coiled silicone form and a 1990 sculptural piece of rough-surfaced steel that carried six-figure estimates. A recent Newson work was one of the few contemporary lots to exceed expectations. His shapely Micarta desk, from 2006 (est. $170-190,000), fetched $206,500, to become the costliest piece of the day. Several rare designs by Royère also performed well. A pair of his 1951 Oeuf chairs (est. $50-75,000) went for $124,900, and an imposing 1950 Sinusoidal chandelier, estimated at $65,000 to $75,000, brought $80,500. Another rarity, a Gio Ponti chest of drawers from 1955 (est. $60-80,000), was among the top lots, making $92,500 despite its worn finish. The chest wasn’t the only Ponti design to surpass its high estimate. Phillips also knocked down a pair of his columnar table lamps (est. $5,000-7,000) for $27,500.

Ending the season on a positive note, Sotheby’s worked hard to keep estimates realistic and client expectations within reason for its two sessions on December 18. Its efforts paid off for the most part, as a number of lots outperformed estimates and several brought exceptional sums. The most museum-worthy offering — a spectacular cast- and wrought-iron elevator enclosure (est. $250-350,000) made by Adler and Sullivan around 1893 for the Chicago Stock Exchange — actually went to an unidentified American museum, for $602,500. Early 20th-century Arts & Crafts designs also did supremely well. A 1912-25 table lamp by Dirk Van Erp (est. $70-90,000) brought $170,500; a stained-glass laylight from Frank Lloyd Wright’s historic Darwin Martin residence in Buffalo, estimated at $80,000 to $120,000, sold for $218,500; and Florida collector Rudy Ciccarello snagged a pair of monumental turn-of-the-century andirons by Gustav Stickley (est. $40-60,000 ) for $278,500. Other successes included a 1986 François-Xavier Lalanne sheep seat, which was enthusiastically bid up to $158,500, beating its high estimate of $80,000, and a striped three-legged chair made by Joaquim Tenreiro in 1954 (est. $60-80,000) that set an auction record for the designer when it brought $92,500.

The Sotheby’s sale of Tiffany lamps eclipsed the Christie’s session, bringing in $3.5 million for just 36 lots. The priciest item was a rare and well-documented Pebble design (est. $300-500,000) that brought $746,500. A dozen lots reached six figure territory, including a Wisteria table lamp (est. $150-200,000), which sold for $188,500, and two floor lamps — a Peony (est. $120-180,000) that brought $266,500 and a rare Fish Scale version (est. $350-500,000) that made $470,500. James Zemaitis, the director of 20th-century design at Sotheby’s, reported that the majority of the purchasers of this blue-chip material were private collectors and that Americans were well represented in the bidding.