Press release -
Salto Vase Beats Previous Auction Record: Sold for EUR 266,000
A stoneware vase by Axel Salto was sold for a staggering EUR 266,000 (including buyer’s premium) Thursday evening at Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers, setting a new national auction record for a ceramic piece by Salto.
There was a cacophony of applause in the saleroom when a stoneware vase by Axel Salto was sold for an astonishing EUR 266,000 (including buyer’s premium) at Bruun Rasmussen's Live Auction with modern design on Thursday evening. The vase thereby set a national auction record for a ceramic piece by Salto.
EUR 266,000. This was the hammer price for the exceptional vase by the Danish ceramic artist Axel Salto, which after a long and fierce bidding war in the saleroom in Copenhagen ended up setting a national auction record for a work by Salto.
It was the first time ever that this particular vase was up for auction, and at Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers there was no doubt about why the vase ended up with such an impressive hammer price.
“The vase is without a doubt one of the most beautiful stoneware vases made by Salto that we have seen thus far at Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers. With its sprouting forms, stylized fruit and organic green and bluish Sung glaze, you get everything you could want from a Salto piece,” says Peter Kjelgaard, Head of the Department for Modern Design at Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers.
The large stoneware vase is modelled with stylized fruit and leaves and decorated with Sung glaze with underglaze paint. Salto is known for his sprouting, budding and rifled forms that conjure up images of a sprawling forest floor or the plant life beneath the surface of the sea. One can certainly also feel this expressive force of nature with this vase, which with its distinctive expression seems almost overwhelming for the viewer.
The last time a national record was set by a Salto vase was at Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers in 2013. At that time one of his large stoneware vases, modelled in budding style and decorated with black olive glaze, achieved a hammer price of EUR 213,000 (including buyer’s premium). This record has now been beaten.
Significant Sales of Salto
The auction showed that Salto’s works are in demand on the auction market like never before. All of the ceramic works by Salto were sold at the evening’s auction, which concluded with an impressive combined hammer price of more than EUR 532,000 (including buyer’s premium) against a combined estimated price of EUR 110,000 for the twelve pieces at the auction.
Besides the many bids from the saleroom, the telephones and via live bidding, Bonhams’ international customers could also join in on the auction through Bonhams’ own website.
Ceramics Made in the ”Spirit of Nature”
Axel Salto (1889-1961) has long ago put Danish ceramics on the world map, and his works are sought after on the auction market like never before. With his distinctive organic idiom, Salto broke down the borders surrounding ceramics and changed the discipline from pottery to an actual artform. The stoneware vases in the well-known budding, sprouting and fluted shapes embody Salto's desire to create with the "spirit of nature", which became his guideline from 1923 onwards, when he left the artform of painting in favour of the ceramic field.
Alongside his work as a ceramicist, he was an editor and writer for the controversial journal "Klingen" (The Blade), which contributed to the cultural debate of the time and argued with a sharp pen for a renewal of art rather than adhering to the retrospective art of the old world.
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"Going once, going twice. Sold to the lady in the front row”. For 75 years, Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers has sold art, antiques, design, jewellery, wristwatches and collector’s items in the heart of Copenhagen. It was Arne Bruun Rasmussen who founded the auction house at Bredgade 33 in 1948, and until 2022 the Bruun Rasmussen family owned the company. Today, the company is owned by the British auction house Bonhams - one of the world's leading and oldest auction houses.
Being a part of Bonhams, means that Bruun Rasmussen has joined a global network, which benefits both the art and the customers, the latter has gained access to far more auctions and the former has a better chance of achieving the market's best hammer prices. The goal is to constantly confirm to our customers that Bruun Rasmussen is a sought-after auction house with the highest expertise in valuation and sales. Bonhams and Bruun Rasmussen share the core values of knowledge, credibility, commitment and renewal, and the old Copenhagen auction house will thus continue to base its business on its well-known values under the auspices of Bonhams.
With CEO Jakob Dupont at the helm, an extensive digitization process has taken place during the past years, making the auction house a significant player on the international market. With solid experience and in-depth knowledge complemented by highly professional advice and appraisal service, the company is the link between sellers and interested buyers from all over the world. Every year, 70,000 unique works of art are sold at three types of auctions – the traditional Live Auctions and the two web-based auctions Online Auction and Direct Auction.
