Top picks from Camden mid-century furniture auction

Mid-century furniture devotees and novice collectors should head to Primrose Hill this weekend to view the lots at the latest sale by specialist auctioneer, The Cabinet Rooms.

A wide range of quality pieces of twentieth-century design will be on view at Cecil Sharp House from Sunday afternoon ahead of the evening auction next Tuesday, 27th January.

Philip Thomas, director of The Cabinet Rooms, talks us through his top picks from next week’s sale below.

LOT 24. A Pair of walnut sofas by George Nakashima, USA c. 1965, estimate £10,000-£15,000

This year’s hot designer is George Nakashima, a Japanese-American designer working in California in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

All his pieces are handmade by him, which makes them really popular at the moment. People are really interested in one-off pieces, with excellent craftsmanship, organic shapes and natural materials.

These two sofas should go down well, with their purity of design: people are moving back to the Arts and Crafts idea of very nice furniture, not too showy, rather than bling.

This is a great opportunity for Londoners to see these pieces because there’s nobody in London specialising in Nakashima’s work at the moment. It’s very popular in Paris, and New York but it’s very unusual for something by him to be on sale in London.

LOT 15. Palm tree floor lamp by Maison Jansen, Paris c. 1970, estimate £4,000-£6,000

This lamp was made by a Paris firm that specialised in luxury goods from the 1920s onwards.

You can’t tell from the picture but it’s about 8 ft high. They made a lot of these lamps with palm tree decorations, usually floor or table lamps, but this one is much bigger than usual.

It must have been a special commission at that size, maybe for a restaurant in Paris.

LOT 5. Lotorosso marble table by Ettore Sottsass, Italy, c. 1965, estimate £2,000-£3,000

Italian furniture seems to be very popular at the moment.

Ettore Sottass was one of the leading Italian designers. He published a lot of design books and did a lot of things around architecture and design so he’s got a strong reputation.

LOT 16. Six dining chairs designed by Hans J. Wegner, Denmark, c. 1965, estimate £3,000-£4,000

Hans J. Wegner was one of the top twentieth-century furniture designers and a leading figure in the Danish Modern movement in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

English people like Danish furniture because you can buy a pair of Danish chairs and fit them into your house without redesigning the whole interior.

thecabinetrooms.com