When John Edelman bought his Westport home that sits on the water, it came with a collection of high-end designer furniture and European antiques. John, who is CEO of Design Within Reach in Stamford, and his wife, Bonnie, favor the Midcentury Modern aesthetic however so they are donating the entire collection to The Benefit Shop Foundation in Mount Kisco, N.Y., which will showcase it in its monthly Red Carpet auction on Wednesday, December 5, at 10 am.
The auction will include important European furniture, period Regency pieces, George III antiques, finely tailored English antiques, French Country, Asian decorative arts, bespoke pieces that came out of New York’s famed D&D Design Center.
A portion of the proceeds from the auction will benefit the Edelmans’ favorite charitable organization, DIFFA, Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS, in New York City, as well as local organizations supported by The Benefit Shop Foundation.
“John and Bonnie Edelman have graciously donated over 200 items to this sale from their home, encompassing a variety of fine periods and styles. We are grateful to them for their generosity and know that buyers will be thrilled to see these gorgeous antique and designer pieces coming to market, many for the first time in decades,” said Pam Stone, owner and founder of The Benefit Shop Foundation. Stone added that the auction will be the first in their new larger space at 185 Kisco Avenue, which is just around the corner from its former location but boasts an enviable 10,000 square feet of gallery space. The company’s phone number remains the same at 914-864-0707.
“In ten years of business, we have grown to the point where our current space no longer adequately meets our needs. Our new facility is not only much bigger but it allowed us to better design the interior space the way we want to, with one area for storage and another for staff with ample room for previewing items and from which to conduct our auctions,” she said.
The best place to start when decorating a room is the floor, this auction offers several choices for buyers in the market for a new rug. Highlights of the waterfront Westport home include a Lavar collection Kerman room size Oriental rug featuring an overall vine scroll and floral pattern on ivory ground, 13 feet, 10 inches by 19 feet ($5/10,000) in mint condition, and an Indian Amritsar room size carpet in shades of blue and ivory, measuring 9 feet, 7 inches by 13 feet, 8 inches ($3/6,000) and a Tabriz room sized carpet with overall vine scroll design on a blue ground, measuring 8 feet, 10 inches by 12 feet, 9 inches ($2/4,000).
George III furniture is well represented in the auction, led by a mahogany serving table, circa 1775, having leaf and fruit garlands decoration, part fluted and reed tapered square legs ending in spade feet, 36 by 81½ by 27 inches ($3/6,000); and a mahogany and satinwood banded chest on chest, circa 1790, with a molded top, top section canted corners with inlaid flutes, 77½ by 42 by 20 inches ($1,5/3,000).
The select grouping of English furniture continues with an English Regency rosewood center table with lion’s feet base, circa 1825, and an antique linen press, late Eighteenth Century, having an upper case rounded molded top over paneled doors and carved twist columns on corners, 77 by 47 by 22 inches ($1/2,000).
Designer offerings sourced from New York’s famed D&D Design Center include a set of ten dining side chairs in the Louis XVIII style, having barley twist legs and designer upholstery, 49 by 27 by 30 inches ($1,5/3,000), and a Lorin Marsh dots oval mirror in the Art Deco style that is ringed with convex circular mirror dots in the border, 39 by 56 inches, which was originally bought from the Lorin Marsh showroom in the D&D building ($1/3,000).
The auction runs from the floor up with the aforementioned carpets all the way up to the ceiling, featuring a 16-light tiered chandelier, a Saugatuck ceiling light fixture, Twentieth Century, 69 by 51 inches ($600-1,200); a circa 1930 wrought iron, six-arm chandelier ($400-800) and a wrought iron and crystal scroll 9-light chandelier, Twentieth Century ($400-800).
Rounding out the auction are a Chinese bamboo and wood altar table with scrolled sides, detailed fretwork and lattice work, 37 by 83 by 16 inches ($400-800), and an antique French dresser painted in pale gray and cream, late Nineteenth Century, 40 by 20 deep by 34 ½ inches ($1/,2000).
The monthly Red Carpet sales feature choice collections of antique, Midcentury Modern, brand furnishings, sterling, china, crystal, jewelry and fine art. With a mission of “to donate, to discover and to do good,” the foundation is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit and auction proceeds support community organizations. Consignors get a tax deduction, the buyer gets a great deal and local non-profits get much needed funds.
For more information, https://www.thebenefitshop.org or 914-864-0707.