Giacometti chandelier bought for £250 in 1960s estimated at £1.5-2.5m at Christie's

A rare chandelier designed by Alberto Giacometti will be auctioned at Christie's London on February 28 as part of the 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale, with a pre-sale estimate of £1.5-2.5 million. The chandelier was originally purchased in the 1960s by painter John Craxton for around £250 from a London shop. Craxton recognized it as the piece commissioned by English collector Peter Watson for the offices of Horizon magazine, a cultural publication Watson co-founded and financed. Giacometti created the chandelier in 1946 or 1947, and it remained in Watson's possession until his death in 1956, after which it likely passed to Horizon co-founder Cyril Connolly. How it ended up in the shop where Craxton bought it remains unknown. Giacometti is not widely known for functional design objects, though he produced several in collaboration with French designer Jean-Michel Frank. Christie's senior specialist Michelle McMullan noted that chandeliers rarely appear at auction and are usually unique editions. Another Giacometti chandelier sold for over £7.6 million at Sotheby's London in 2018. Christie's expects strong interest, with the estimate far exceeding the original purchase price.