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Mario Buatta: Prince of Interiors

Sotheby's is honored to announce that we will present furniture, fine art and decorative objects from the personal collection of legendary interior designer Mario Buatta in a dedicated two-day auction that will take place during one of the busiest weeks on the New York art market calendar, alongside with both The Winter Show and our Americana Week sales series in New York in January 2020.

Mario Buatta: Prince of Interiors will offer a diverse array of nearly 1,000 works that Mr. Buatta lived with in his Upper East Side apartment in New York City as well as the William Mason House - an historic gothic-style home in Thompson, Connecticut - and feature many pieces that have long been admired in showhouse rooms and shelter magazines over the years.

Most influenced by the understated elegance of Colefax and Fowler and the doyenne of exuberant American decor, Sister Parish, Buatta reinvented the English Country House style stateside for clients such as Henry Ford II, Barbara Walters, Malcolm Forbes, Mariah Carey, Patricia Altschul and for Blair House, the President's guest quarters. The collection comprises: English and Chinese Export porcelain; English pottery and Dutch Delft; English enamels, silver, and glassware; numerous examples of English and Continental furniture, with a particular focus on lacquered, japanned and penwork items; an ensemble of fine art, accented by his well-known collection of dog paintings and many more eclectic objects that illustrate his incomparable personality. With estimates ranging from $500 to $50,000, the sale will present collectors and admirers at all levels with a unique opportunity to acquire a piece of Mr. Buatta's influential aesthetic.

The New York auction on 23 and 24January will be preceded by a public exhibition opening 16 January in Sotheby's York Avenue galleries.