Since Rago/Wright formed a network with other auction houses such as Toomey & Co.and LA Modern, Rago partner Suzanne Perrault has seen a major increase in the volume and quality of glass art that she can gather to put up for auction. This is one reason that glass is no longer sold as a subset within marathon two-day design auctions, but has been given its own dedicated auctions, such as the one coming up on February 6, which will feature work from the collections of Dale and Doug Anderson, Morton and Rhea Mandell, and Mimi Livingston. The Glass Quarterly Hot Sheet spoke with Perrault about the decision to reschedule the upcoming sale, which had originally been announced as taking place in January, and asked for her observations of the glass field.
Glass Quarterly Hot Sheet: In what I believe is a first, Rago changed the date of the January 17 auction to February 6. Can you confirm that this hasn't happened before, and perhaps let us know why that decision was made?
Suzanne Perrault: Yes, this is the first time we’ve done this with glass, for sure, for a couple of reasons. Prior to the merger [with Wright, Toomey & Co. and LAMA], we held significantly fewer auctions in all categories. Glass used to be part of three yearly Rago sales that ran for entire weekends, which we’d start with Arts & Crafts on Saturday morning, and end with Contemporary Glass around 4:00 pm on Sunday afternoons. Our partner Richard Wright has been decoupling all matters of decorative arts from their original auctions and giving them their own spotlight. From those Rago Design weekends, for example, he created American and European Pottery; Art Nouveau/Art Deco Glass and Lighting; Early 20th C Design; Post-War and Contemporary Ceramics; and Contemporary Glass. It’s been a really successful approach which has highlighted and clarified the types of works that make up the auctions, and has helped garner a lot of eyeballs on the glass sales, among others. The presentation standards have also seriously been ratcheted up, so we need enough good property to be worthy of the new stature. It also adds a lot of auctions to our production schedule. For that reason, we give our staff some well-earned breathing room during Thanksgiving and the new year. That can shorten gathering time for January sales by up to two weeks. I was originally counting on a couple of large collections coming in by Fall, which is why I was comfortable with a tighter schedule. Both collections are still in play but won’t likely be in until the Spring or Summer, which left me with a sale smaller than I wanted. So the best choice was to not close by Thanksgiving, and take the extra weeks needed. The waiting paid off, and the February 6 auction is lush with gorgeous property. I’m sorry about the advertising date being changed, and most grateful to have this opportunity to explain the rationale.
Glass: Now that glass has been broken out and has its own dedicated sales as a category, has that had an impact?
Perrault: It has been doing very well and attracting much more attention as its own category. It’s a great party you want to be at! But, ultimately, property will come in on its own time. As an auctioneer or specialist, you can’t push collectors to sell, you have to wait until they’re ready and at peace with the process. We remind them when they ask, “We are on your time. There is no such thing as a Decorative Arts emergency.” Unlike some fine art buyers, glass collectors live surrounded by their works, which are daily reminders of trips, artists, and friends -- fun times! So you have to honor and respect that. You can check in from time to time, but you can’t bully people. It will earn you no friends and get you no business.
Glass: It sounds like you work hard to maintain your relationships with collectors.
Perrault: Absolutely. Buying glass is a warm and fuzzy experience, and much is based on personal relationships. Working as an auctioneer, you certainly forge relationships with collectors, both on the selling and buying end. I have been our main [contemporary] glass specialist for over 15 years now. I’ve met a lot of collectors on glass trips, exhibits, and through our auctions. These people have greatly enriched my life; I have stayed in touch with some long after we’ve finished our business. Most of the friends my husband David [Rago] and I have have been introduced to us through auctions, many of whom long ago stopped collecting.
Glass: We hear a lot about problems in the market for glass, and we see galleries closing their doors have decades and decades in business. Who are the collectors buying from your auctions? What can you tell us about them?
Perrault: There are a few parts to this question, let’s take them one at a time. “Problems in the market for glass” can refer to several things, often prices on the secondary market. I remind collectors regularly that most artworks they purchased will not earn them a profit. These works were purchased to enrich their lives. Importantly, new glass is often particularly expensive. When re-selling vintage glass, once the artist has moved on to other series, and that the glass works have been exposed to the vagaries of domestic life, there will often be a not-insignificant adjustment in value. But as there are still a great many people bidding in our sales, many of them new to me every time, I believe the secondary market for glass is healthy. Like anything, it’s all about expectations.
Galleries are closing for a couple of reasons: Collectors are more and more comfortable spending important sums of money on works they’ve not seen in person; the online photos are rich in detail and gallery owners trusted, so they don’t need to visit brick-and-mortar locations as they used to and can buy online. Dyed-in-the-wool collectors are often older and don’t gather new works at the rate they once did, often having filled their homes over the years with the works they love and now being short on space. Or they’re moving to smaller quarters and keeping their best, favorite pieces and selling the rest.
The younger generations (50 years old or younger) are not big glass collectors, at least not as I can see! Or anything collectors! They might well accept and enjoy works given to them by their parents -- but do they go to the Boathouse to purchase $100,000 works from Chihuly? I don’t think so! Our glass collectors at auction are selective from what I can tell, trying to fill a particular spot in the house, getting a work from an artist they don’t already have, or going deep in an artist’s oeuvre. Or just plain falling in love with that piece they have to have!
Glass: So you’re not seeing all the interest in Netflix’s show Blown Away, or the popularity of glass pipes with the legalization of Cannabis, bringing in a new generation to collect?
Perrault: I thought for a while perhaps there would be a new audience buying the works of the newest younger makers seen on Blown Away, and perhaps there is, and just I’m not seeing it yet. As you know, some of these pipes sell for a LOT of money. But I think it’s the original collectors from the 1980s onward who can afford them, or even buy the glass pipes for their sculptural value! It’s become something almost funny, and certainly cheeky in a way, to display these elaborate pieces of glass. I don’t know of many younger collectors who can afford that.
Glass: It sounds like the established glass collectors remain the heart of the market.
Perrault: I completely agree. Collecting glass, along with other crafts such as studio ceramics or textiles, is often built around a community of collectors. The entire experience is the appeal, as much as what is being purchased. It’s kind of like going to a restaurant - there is so much more that goes into the experience of having a pleasant evening than just the food. When you’re buying glass, of course you covet the art object, but you also have to like the layers around the purchase. You forge a story, you create a narrative around the maker, the seller, perhaps the people who are present.
Glass: How does this affect auctions, where the story of the artist or the work is one removed usually?
Perrault: Well, to some degree, the secondary market is stripped of that narrative. However, consigned collections can be grouped in our auctions in “chapters,” where we relate how these objects were gathered, and fill in some details of the life of the collectors, if they’ll let us. Lastly, the relationships woven between the consignors, the auction specialists, and the new buyers, hopefully all become part of the ongoing narrative.
Glass: So why does someone choose to buy at auction rather than from the gallery or directly from the artist?
Perrault: I can think of a few. Sometimes, a collector is seduced by seeing a comprehensive group of works by a certain artist which they might not otherwise have access to; often, the vintage works are no longer available on the primary market; and, of course, collectors know that the prices are likely to start lower at auction, so they have a chance at a bargain. Sometimes that works, sometimes it gets away from them. On that topic, some collectors are drawn to the competition to get a work, so there’s that as well.
Glass: Speaking of prices, there were some records set last year for secondary market sales, weren’t there?
Perrault:
Well we had the sale of the Dick Marquis collection from the NorthWest coast. We’ve sold his pieces at auction for years, but there were many spectacular examples in this particular group, some extremely rare works. Some were also made during the 1960s, a time when Marquis was expressing through glass both the new pop aesthetic and the dramatic cultural chaos shaking up this country. We had several important museums bidding in that sale, and set some record prices.
Glass: There was also a record for a Billy Morris work, right?
Perrault: We offered a wonderful example of Billy Morris’ work Beetles With Flora.The size was good, the condition perfect, for a $30,000 - $50,000 pre-auction estimate. The body is mostly sepia-toned, which not all collectors appreciate, with small insects and flowers crowning the rim. As many will prefer brighter pieces with larger animals, I thought I had overshot it with the estimate, but the absentee bids started coming in as soon as we posted the catalog. Finally, during the live sale, it came down to two people, neither willing to let it go. And that’s it, it ended up selling for $390,600 with the buyer’s premium. I believe that’s some kind of record…
Glass: So it sounds like, from your perspective, the market is doing okay.
Perrault: Well, from where I sit, the market is far from dismal, and is in fact very healthy. But to make that success contingent upon what the prices were when the works were brand new, well, that is obviously apples to oranges. Comparing the primary and secondary markets, in any medium, is not a fair fight. You’ll find there are very few times when you’ll get your money back in anything. Often, the artist has explored different ways of expressing what they want to say, and a piece done in the 2000s or 2010s is often more satisfying than the work from the 1980s or early 1990s. When you're selling the earliest work from an artist, you can’t expect to see major appreciation.
Glass: What are some of the other things that affect the price at the secondary market level?
Perrault: Condition is important. Most collectors believe that 100-percent of their glass collection is 100-percent pristine. What I’ve found is that there is often up to 20 percent of the works which will be slightly scratched or nicked in some way. Life just happens. It’s part of the process and risks of owning art. But would you have it any other way?
IF YOU GO:
February 6, 2025, 11 am EST
Contemporary Glass Auction
Rago Arts
Main Gallery
333 North Main Street
Lambertville, NJ 08350
Auction Website