Lalanne's Frog Fountains Expected to Fetch $2.5M–$3.5M at Christie's

A set of four bronze Grenouille fountains by François-Xavier Lalanne, the first such works he created, will be the highlight of Christie's Design auction at Rockefeller Center on June 10. The fountains, estimated at $2.5 million to $3.5 million, were commissioned in 1981 by American designer and collector Alexandra Marshall after she met the Lalannes in Paris. Marshall had challenged François-Xavier to turn his frog-shaped chair into a fountain; the resulting turquoise patina frogs adorned her Houston swimming pool for decades. The sale also features decorative arts from the estate of late Philadelphia collector Henry S. McNeil Jr., including a Henning Koppel eel covered dish (estimate $60,000–$80,000), a set of Sam Maloof chairs, and a George Nakashima dining table. A patinated bronze ram by Lalanne from 2008 carries an estimate of $800,000–$1.2 million. Among 128 lots, 18 are by Tiffany Studios, led by the Boyd Family Memorial Window (1898), estimated at $1.5 million–$2 million, which has been in a Connecticut church for 125 years.