Eight lots in the current sale with a high estimate at or below $2,500, each of them by a designer with a documented body of work.
293 of the 349 lots in Escape to the Modernist Garden have a high estimate at or below $2,500. That is not a discount section. It is the normal shape of a Circa sale, and it is the reason people who assume auction means five figures are usually wrong.
These eight are where we would tell a first-time buyer to start, on one criterion: each is by a designer or maker with a documented body of work, so the object teaches you something beyond itself.
The eight
- Lot 81, Louis Sognot rattan loop pendant lamp, $600 to $900. Sognot's rattan work is the entry point to a whole French idiom, and a pendant is the least risky way to buy light.
- Lot 50, Willy Guhl large elephant ear planter, $1,200 to $1,800. The form that started the Eternit garden programme, with factory-drilled drainage and heavy patina.
- Lot 271, Eero Saarinen for Knoll tulip side table, $1,000 to $1,500. A production design that has never gone out of manufacture, which makes it an easy first comparison exercise.
- Lot 29, Charlotte Perriand for Les Arcs 1600 pine bench, $1,200 to $1,800. Real Perriand, contract production, 65 inches long.
- Lot 144, Ilmari Tapiovaara set of four wood chairs, $1,200 to $1,800. Four documented Finnish chairs at roughly $300 each.
- Lot 174, Poul Cadovius modular shelving unit, $1,000 to $1,500. Ninety-five inches of Danish wall-mounted storage that can be reconfigured indefinitely.
- Lot 62, Mathieu Matégot pair of perforated metal wall shelves in yellow, $1,000 to $1,500. Documented Rigitulle in an unusual colour.
- Lot 172, Paul Klee lithograph, signed, $600 to $900. A signed print is the cheapest way into a name that will otherwise stay out of reach.
What the numbers actually mean
Two adjustments to make before you set a limit. Starting bids on these lots sit at roughly half the low estimate, so lot 81 opens at $300 and lot 50 at $600. And the buyer's premium of 20 percent is added to the hammer, so a lot hammered at $900 invoices at $1,080 before applicable sales tax.
The result is that a bench, a lamp and a planter from this list is a realistic first purchase in the low four figures, all in.
Why entry level does not mean lesser
The pricing in this band is driven by category rather than by quality. Lighting, small tables, prints, single planters and shelving all sell below seating and case pieces, regardless of who made them. A signed Klee lithograph is cheaper than an anonymous set of four chairs, because chairs get used and prints get stored.
The most common regret we hear is not overpaying. It is bidding on one lot instead of two and watching the second one go for the starting bid.
How to use the Under $2,500 collection
The Under $2,500 collection on this site runs live against the catalog and will show every lot in the sale that qualifies, not only these eight. It is the fastest way to read a 349-lot catalog if your budget is fixed, and it updates as lots move.
Register on bid.circaauctionhouse.com before Saturday 12 September, and if you can, see the lots at 249 South Mission Road first. Small objects are the ones a photograph flatters most.
