Paris – The Glass and Design from 1900 to Now auction will be held at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris on 29 April, offering a wide range of emblematic glassworks from the Art Nouveau period signed by Émile Gallé and Daum. The auction will feature 93 lots from the early 20th century to the present day.

Claire Gallois, specialist in the Design department at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris, said: "We are delighted to be offering an exceptional range of works by masters of the craft. This auction will showcase Design pieces signed by designers from Gallé to Perriand. Included in the sale are a selection of fine works from the Paolo Kahlberg Collection, whose entrepreneurial spirit and refined eye enabled him to build, with his wife, a remarkable collection of glass work. With almost 100 lots spanning more than a century of innovative design, the sale will offer something to entice any collector."

At its height from 1890 to 1910, Art Nouveau swept through the world with its sinuous curves, cross-cultural ornamentation, and stylized floral and foliate forms. One of the highlights of the Art Nouveau section is a rare signed 'Rien sans amour' vase parlant with two applied handles in blown tinted crystal with dragons and foliage decoration in polychrome opaque enamels and gold highlights by Émile Gallé (estimate: €6,000-8,000).

In terms of École de Nancy decorative objects, one name reigned supreme: Daum. Some remarkable examples of hand-engraved Daum glassware, including a rare model executed using the delicate process of chasing on hot-applied plates. A signed 'Jour et Nuit' four-lobed coupe in multi-layered acid-etched glass with poppies decoration ciselés sur plaquettes affleurantes by Daum Nancy (estimate : €5,000-7,000).

Also featured in the sale is Italian design with a curated selection of works by Carlo Scarpa, Giacomo Cappellin, Flavio Poli, Napoleone Martinuzzi and Ercole Barovier while an exhibition curated by Marino Barovier and dedicated to Murano glass at the Venice Biennale from 1932 to 1942 is on view in Venice.

From the Paolo Kahlberg Collection in Milan, an important vase in blown iridescent tinted glass and applied handles designed by Ercole Barovier (1889-1974) circa 1925 and executed by Vetreria Artistica Barovier & C. will be offered with an estimate of €20,000-30,000.

Paolo Kahlberg (1937–2022) was a passionate and visionary collector whose love for Murano glass began in the 1980s in Milan, the city where he lived and built his remarkable collection. An entrepreneur deeply involved in the chemical industry, particularly through collaborations with Czech Republic, Paolo applied the same curiosity and refined eye to his career as a glass collector.
Alongside his wife, he dedicated decades to discovering exceptional pieces, often through travels to fairs and auctions. A key figure in this journey was Maurizio Cocchi of Galleria in Arte, Milan, who played a central role in shaping the collection.

Post-war Italian glass is also included in the sale with 'Frusna vänner' (Frozen friends), a glass sculpture depicting three ducks frozen in a layer of ice, designed by Swedish artist Ernst Billgren (b. 1957) and edited by Berengo Studio, Murano. (estimate: €2,000-3,000).

Glass sculptures by female Austrian artist Kiki Kogelnik (1935-1997) have achieved strong prices at Bonhams over the past three years. A monogrammed and numbered 'Byzantine Head' sculpture in Murano tinted glass by the artist and executed by Berengo Studio in 1996 is offered with an estimate of €20,000-30,000.

Another highlight of the sale is a major group of objects from a flat in Les Arcs 1600 designed by the architect Charlotte Perriand. Furniture comes from La Cascade, one of the first residence to be built in Les Arcs between 1967 and 1969.From 1967 to 1989, Charlotte Perriand devoted herself fully to the project of her life: the creation of the Savoyard ski resort of Les Arcs in collaboration with property developer Roger Godino. It was the first time a woman had been at the helm of such a modern epic.

Each piece of furniture was designed to have several functions, without disrupting the overall space: for example, there is a large sofa-bed that furnishes the living rooms and acts as an extension of the slatted terraces: a bench in fir and lacquered metal fixed in the flat's niches (estimate: €10,000-15,000); a pair of 'CP1' sconces in lacquered bent metal (estimate: €800-1,200) and a bathroom cabinet in enamelled metal sheet (estimate : €2,500-3,500).

Other highlights of the 93-lot sale include:

• A monogrammed, numbered and impressed 'Échassier' table lamp, small model, in patinated bronze, patinated copper and opaline glass designed by François-Xavier Lalanne in 1994 and edited by Artcurial (estimate: €50,000-70,000)

(Press Release)