Lot 211: WILLIAM LESCAZE (1896-1969)

WILLIAM LESCAZE (1896-1969)
A Chromed-Metal Counterbalance Table Lamp, circa 1934
22 in. (56 cm.) high

THE FOLLOWING 12 LOTS ARE PROPERTY FORMELY FROM THE COLLECTION OF NAOMI LEFF


An important and influential American interior decorator of the 20th century, Naomi Leff created serene and luxurious interiors for celebrities and retailers such as Ralph Lauren, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Helena Rubinstein, Galen and Hilary Weston, Barry Diller, and Giorgio Armani - among many others. In addition to exquisite homes and stores, Neff also designed the interiors of yachts and jets for her clients.

In 1980 she established her New York design firm, Naomi Leff and Associates, and in 1986 received much acclaim for her extremely skillful transformation of the Rhinelander Mansion on 72nd Street and Madison Avenue into the flagship store for Polo Ralph Lauren. Her extremely skillful recreation of the Rhinelander Mansion and its conversion to a store launched her successful and inspirational career.

Leff was celebrated by her profession with numerous awards: she was inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame in 1991, Pratt Institute's Legends award was bestowed upon her in 2000 and in 2005 she was named a Dean of Design by Architectural Digest in 2005. In 2008 the Monacelli Press published a monograph entitled Naomi Leff, and her work was the topic of the exhibition "Naomi Leff: Interior Design" on view from June to September 2008 at Pratt Institute, Leff's alma mater.

cf. A. Duncan, Modernism: Modernist Design 1880-1940, Woodbridge, England, 1998, p. 222 for an example of a table lamp of this model.