Bonhams Modern Design | Art Auction Realizes $813,410 Led by George Nakashima Works

In a sale that closed on 16 October 2026, Bonhams presented its Modern Design | Art auction, which realized a total of $813,410^[1]. The sale achieved a 74.3% sell-through^[1] rate, with 153 of 206 lots sold. Bonhams published the official results for this auction, which served as the primary data source for these final figures.

A significant portion of the auction's leading design pieces featured exceptional provenance, particularly a group of works by the celebrated woodworker George Nakashima. Several of these lots were acquired directly from the artist by Drs. Melvin Cohn and Suzanne Bourgeois-Cohn^[2]. These works were later gifted to the San Diego Museum of Art from the Cohn-Bourgeois Estate, with the proceeds from the auction designated to benefit the museum's operating expenses. Among these pieces, a floor lamp was originally acquired directly from the artist for the Salk Institute, highlighting the deep historical and institutional connections of the collection. Additionally, the sale featured a rare Tiffany Studios decorated vase with a personal history, having been gifted by Louis Comfort Tiffany^[4] to the wife of George A. MacBeth on the occasion of her wedding, subsequently descending through the family to the present owner.

The Nakashima Conoid Desk led the auction, showcasing the artist's signature use of American black walnut and hickory. This piece was sold accompanied by a digital copy of its original order card, confirming its direct acquisition from the artist's studio. The floor lamp and table lamp from the same estate featured walnut and fiberglass construction, both also retaining digital copies of their original order cards. The Tiffany Studios decorated vase, crafted from Favrile glass and bearing the incised initials and paper label of the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, represents a highly documented piece of American glassmaking history. Its recipient's husband was a cofounder of the MacBeth-Evans Glass Company, which was later acquired by Corning Glass Works, linking the object directly to the history of industrial glass manufacturing in the United States. Other notable design objects in the sale included a glazed stoneware baluster vase from Grand Feu Art Pottery and a palo santo wood sculpture by William Hunter, alongside works on paper by Alberto Vargas.\n\nSource note: The auction house publishes this official lot page as part of the sale, providing a direct first-party source for the listed object.^[5]