Specialising in affordable modern design, The Cabinet Rooms also take a modern approach to their sales methods.
A sort of specialist ebay with bells on, buyers can bid on lots at the next auction tomorrow evening, either in person or online from anywhere in the world.
Philip Thomas director of The Cabinet Rooms said: “The sales are filmed and streamed online, meaning that people don’t have to sit through a two-hour auction if they don’t want to, they can just set an alert on their computer for when their chosen lot comes up.”
And while customers can adopt a purely digital approach, unlike with ebay there is also the opportunity to view the objects in the flesh before bidding.
Items are on show at their temporary showroom in Cecil Sharp House until 10pm this evening and all day tomorrow before the auction.
Some of Thomas’ top picks at this sale include several pieces of municipal teak furniture from Chandigarh, India.
These were designed by Pierre Jeanneret for his uncle Le Corbusier’s architectural project in the city.
Pieces from the scheme rarely come up for sale as there were relatively few made at the time.
Other highlights include a collection of 1940s lights by French designer Serge Mouille, which are interesting examples of early Modernism and pieces from Hans Wegner and Finn Juhl, two of the biggest names in Danish design.
Several of The Cabinet Rooms’ clients have Modernist homes around Hampstead and Highgate and are buying furniture to go in them but they also have many buyers in their 80s who have collections of these designs from the first time around and are interested in adding to them.
And many of these Modernist homes were likely to have been furnished originally with designs sourced from two Hampstead shops.
“We’re looking for people who might have bought things from Oscar Woollens on Finchley Road or Gerald Moran in Hampstead Village in the 60s and 70s.
“They sold new avant garde furniture at the time and there are lots of people around Hampstead who would have shopped there 40 years ago.”
Read more:
Future classic Dutch mid-century furniture sale in Marylebone
Mid-century Camden warehouse flat conversion comes to market
Hampstead and Highgate are the ‘high points’ for Modernist homes
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