Press release -
DKK 420,000 for hitherto unknown Art Deco furniture
Last Thursday Bruun Rasmussen offered a new point of impact in Danish design history, with a beautiful, one-of-a-kind set of furniture from 1941 by the unknown theatre architect Orla Høyer. The unusual furniture set is the clearest expression of Nordic Art Deco Bruun Rasmussen has ever seen at its auctions.
“Nordic Art Deco furniture is something of a rarity. This is because the style in Denmark was primarily used in decorative art, and because the distinctive decorative pieces were at odds with the Danish penchant for a more simple look. We normally see the greatest demand and hundred-thousand-kroner hammer prices on design classics by the most famous Danish architects, but this evening we proved that unknown Danish design can also arouse the attention of international collectors,” says Peter Kjelgaard, head of Bruun Rasmussen's design department.
The set in question features a daybed, a pair of sideboards, a chest of drawers and a glass cabinet of oak and birch, designed by Orla Høyer for manufacturer Johnny Mürsch for his villa in Frederiksberg. The decorative elements of Art Deco cannot be overlooked in the furniture’s shapes, the beautifully crafted oak and birch wood and the voluminous brass fittings. The pieces were sold separately, fetching a total hammer price of DKK 420,000 (€ 56,500 / € 73,500 including buyer's premium).
Behind Art Deco
The Art Deco style is first and foremost decorative and originated from the French decorator tradition in around 1914, spreading to architecture, design and handicrafts in the rest of Europe and the US over the next couple of decades. Art Deco is a conglomeration of various schools of thought within the cultural scene, inspired by Avant Garde art, finds from the numerous archaeological excavations in Egypt at that time and traditional crafts from the Far East. The culmination was the World Exhibition “Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes" in Paris in 1925.
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Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers is one of Scandinavia’s leading international auction houses, and one of Denmark’s oldest. It all started on 6 October 1948, when Arne Bruun Rasmussen conducted the first traditional auction in the saleroom at Bredgade 33 in Copenhagen. Today, Jesper Bruun Rasmussen stands at the helm of the family-run business together with the third generation of the family, his son Frederik and daughter Alexa, and the company’s CEO Jakob Dupont.
In 2004, the first online auction was launched, and today the auction house has expanded to include departments in Copenhagen and Aarhus and representations in Sweden, Germany, France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Spain, Italy, Thailand and the US. About 100,000 lots are put up for auction each year at the traditional auctions and daily online auctions. Here you can bid on everything from art, antiques, modern design and jewellery to books, coins, stamps, wine and weaponry.
