The mirrors of Line Vautrin

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

Line Vautrin was a designer of furnishings whose very original outputs are increasingly sought. Starting from cellulose acetate, she obtained in the 1940s a material, named talosel, that suited her research in the field of shimmering and color effects. She created various jewelry, boxes, candlesticks, lamps and especially mirrors.

Her mirrors are round, surrounded by a radiant corona. The size, design and material of the radiant elements vary widely, and the rarity of the model is an indisputable element of the price.

Thus, on May 18, a flat mirror with antler shaped corona was sold 56 K € before fees by Maître Dragon at Chatou. It was very damaged, but it was a large size (1.10 m overall diameter) unique model.

On 15 April 2007, the same Paris suburban office had obtained 95 K € before fees on a 60 cm wide "miroir de sorcière" of feather-shaped corona elements, whose corona had rare characteristics of being asymmetrical and of having a bigger area than the mirror itself. The "miroir de sorcière" (witch mirror) wording, which applies to most of Vautrin mirrors, is not an invention of her but refers to convex round mirrors. Of course, the distortion of the reflected image justifies this wording.

On 7 December 2005 in New York, Christie's sold 168 K$ costs included a mirror of 58 cm where the small corona was more common but particularly aesthetic. A deeper look at Christie's confirmed that a predominant corona adds indisputable value.

On 30 July in Monte Carlo, Tajan sells no less than 23 mirrors of Vautrin. The coronas are of geometrical patterns and remain small. It therefore seems quite logical that none of these lots is estimated at the price level I have noted above, but this is a good opportunity to verify the value of these items. The highest estimate of this group is on lot 16, a mirror sun of 57 cm expecting 45 K €. The catalogue contains nine other mirrors estimated 26 K € or more.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The results are good. Nine mirrors of Vautrin have been sold, including six beyond 26 K €. This indicates that the most important pieces are also easier to sell.

As the sale did not contain a rare model the logical result was that the mirrors Soleil à pointes attracted the fans. These mirrors record the three highest prices for this group, at 50 K € (for Lot 16, which had the highest estimate), 46 K € and 37 K €. These prices include fees.