Prepared for the worst, the major auction houses breathed a collective sigh of relief after their December design sales. Overall, results were below estimates, as buyers exhibited a new conservative streak, either switching their allegiance from provocative contemporary works to the safety of old standards or declining to purchase anything at all. Still, some reassuring high spots buoyed hopes and brought a much-needed lift to the glum holiday season.

The sales started off slowly in Chicago on December 9 and 11, as Wright failed to sell nearly half of the lots it offered. "Obviously, we are facing a tough market," said the auction house owner, Richard Wright. The prices for many of the pieces that did find buyers hovered around their relatively low estimates. For instance, Harry Bertoia’s Untitled (Dandelion), 1962 one of seven sculptures that the artist created for New York’s 1964 World’s Fair (est. $200-300,000), squeaked by at $192,000. The sale did manage one triumph: A 1957 silver and steel Maria Pergay table that was custom-made for the wife of the Algerian ambassador to France (est. $60-80,000) sold for $112,800.

A few days later, Christie’s took aim at serious collectors with three modest-size sales featuring designs mostly by proven sellers, some of which came with aggressive estimates that made no concession to a recession mentality. Christie’s led off on December 15 with the single-owner sale of mostly French Art Deco furnishings from the Palm Beach residence of Frayda and George Lindemann. The highest price of the week was achieved the next day, at the house’s 20th-century decorative art and design sale, by the 1949 Carlo Mollino table that graced the catalogue cover. The earliest known version of Mollino’s biomorphic Arabesque tables, this distinctive laminated-plywood and glass piece was snapped up by the New York dealer Brian Kish for $1,314,500 — a sum comfortably above the high estimate of $1.2 million but not surprising for an iconic item with impeccable provenance. "It was consigned by the family of the original owners," said a spokesman. "Few pieces like that come to market."

Beyond the Mollino, though, the sale experienced some turbulence. A quirky Line Vautrin chandelier and a rare Bugatti silver tray failed to find buyers, and a Ron Arad carbon-fibre table from 2002 (est. $100-150,000) never took off. The implosion of the Arad piece was one indication that buyers were favoring midcentury designs, such as the 1950s Jean Royère chandelier (est. $50-70,000) that brought $62,500. There were, however, exceptions to this rule. Maurice Calka’s white fiberglass Boomerang desk and chair from 1970 (est. $10-15,000), for instance, mushroomed to $35,000.

Phillips de Pury & Company’s auction on December 17 was the most adventurous of the week, featuring a variety of envelope-pushing works that included a fine group of contemporary ceramics. As a rule, however, the Phillips results were lackluster. Many of the sale highlights were bought in, including a couple of highly anticipated Arad chairs: a 2006 coiled silicone form and a 1990 sculptural piece of rough-surfaced steel that carried six-figure estimates. A recent Newson work was one of the few contemporary lots to exceed expectations. His shapely Micarta desk, from 2006 (est. $170-190,000), fetched $206,500, to become the costliest piece of the day. Several rare designs by Royère also performed well. A pair of his 1951 Oeuf chairs (est. $50-75,000) went for $124,900, and an imposing 1950 Sinusoidal chandelier, estimated at $65,000 to $75,000, brought $80,500. Another rarity, a Gio Ponti chest of drawers from 1955 (est. $60-80,000), was among the top lots, making $92,500 despite its worn finish. The chest wasn’t the only Ponti design to surpass its high estimate. Phillips also knocked down a pair of his columnar table lamps (est. $5,000-7,000) for $27,500.

Ending the season on a positive note, Sotheby’s worked hard to keep estimates realistic and client expectations within reason for its two sessions on December 18. Its efforts paid off for the most part, as a number of lots outperformed estimates and several brought exceptional sums. The most museum-worthy offering — a spectacular cast- and wrought-iron elevator enclosure (est. $250-350,000) made by Adler and Sullivan around 1893 for the Chicago Stock Exchange — actually went to an unidentified American museum, for $602,500. Early 20th-century Arts & Crafts designs also did supremely well. A 1912-25 table lamp by Dirk Van Erp (est. $70-90,000) brought $170,500; a stained-glass laylight from Frank Lloyd Wright’s historic Darwin Martin residence in Buffalo, estimated at $80,000 to $120,000, sold for $218,500; and a buyer snagged a pair of monumental turn-of-the-century andirons by Gustav Stickley (est. $40-60,000 ) for $278,500. Other successes included a 1986 François-Xavier Lalanne sheep seat, which was enthusiastically bid up to $158,500, beating its high estimate of $80,000, and a striped three-legged chair made by Joaquim Tenreiro in 1954 (est. $60-80,000) that set an auction record for the designer when it brought $92,500.

In the end, the auction houses emerged from the week optimistic. After the disastrous September auctions, every sale was seen as cause for celebration, and many savvy professionals agree that a cool-down period could be a good thing for the overheated design market. A reversion to lower prices may, in the long run, lead to sales that are driven by quality and provenance rather than by fleeting trends and speculation.

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