A Year in Review: STAIR in 2025
If auctions are a barometer for the tastes and appetites of the art and antiques market, this past year reaffirmed that ‘Interesting Things From Interesting People’ continues to captivate collectors and inspire consignors. From landmark single-owner sales to continued strength across core categories, 2025 reflected a marketplace that values not just exceptional objects, but the personal stories, provenance, and sensibility behind them. Our enthusiasm for traditional, cross-category collecting was equally matched by our clients, whose increased participation across our single-owner and tentpole sales lead to our strongest hammer year to date.
Momentum Across Core Collecting Categories
The Fine Sale, gallery preview at STAIR in April 2025 with Lot 26, a ‘George III Silver Mirror Six-Piece Plateau with Arms of the Duke of Richmond‘ on display which sold for $64,000.
Our 2025 sales brought strong results across categories that STAIR has long championed. Furniture sales saw a 30% year-over-year increase in hammer value, underscoring the ongoing relevance of character-rich design and period authenticity in today’s interiors-driven collecting landscape. Decorative Arts also posted a 13% rise in hammer value, highlighting renewed enthusiasm for objects that retain traditional quality and taste.
The Fine Sale, a cornerstone of our calendar, saw a 5% lift in hammer, demonstrating consistent interest at the high end of the market and reaffirming our role as a trusted partner for significant collections and estates.
Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900): View of Eibsee in The Fine Sale on April 24, 2025.
Hammer: $77,000 (Estimate: $60,000 – $90,000)
Hammer: $18,000 (Estimate: $1,000 – $1,500)
Pair of George III Giltwood Mirrors in Hyde Park Antiques at STAIR on October 30, 2025.
Hammer: $19,000 (Estimate: $3,000 – $6,000)
Hammer: $52,500 (Estimate: $2,000 – $4,000)
Silk Tabriz Carpet, Northwest Persia in The Fine Sale on October 29, 2025.
Hammer: $26,000 (Estimate: $1,500 – $3,000)
Tibetan Gilt Copper Alloy Figure of Sakyamuni in The Fine Sale on October 29, 2025.
Hammer: $50,000 (Estimate: $4,000 – $6,000)
The October Fine Sale at STAIR offered important American paintings, highlighted by the central image, Lot 134: Edmund Charles Tarbell (1862-1938): Contemplation, which sold for $85,000.
Beyond the traditional, our Modern & Contemporary Fine Art & Design sales continued its upward trajectory with strong organic growth. Notable highlights included works from the Collection of Joel Shapiro, the Collection of Larry and Clarice Rivers, and pieces offered by institutions such as The Museum of Modern Art, as well as collectors John Githens and Ingeborg ten Haeff.
David Hockney (b. 1937) Red Celia in Modern & Contemporary Fine Art & Design on November 20, 2025.
Hammer: $28,000 (Estimate: $20,000 – $30,000)
Alfonso Ossorio (1916-1990): Broom in Modern & Contemporary Fine Art & Design on November 20, 2025.
Hammer: $82,500 (Estimate: $60,000 – $80,000)
Hammer: $35,000 (Estimate: $20,000 – $30,000)
Hammer: $13,000 (Estimate: $2,000 – $4,000)
Hammer: $13,000 (Estimate: $3,000 – $5,000)
Our February Thursday Morning at STAIR sale included selections from the New York apartment of John Githens and Ingeborg ten Haeff | Photo: Annie Schlechter
Our Thursday Morning at STAIR series, known for its approachable spirit and reliable quality and provenance, remained a client favorite. With an average hammer just under $1,000, these sales offer an inviting entry point for new buyers while delivering rare finds, eclectic charm, and strong results across categories.
Hammer: $1,000 (Estimate: $1,500 – $3,000)
Hammer: $600 (Estimate: $700 – $900)
Hammer: $200 (Estimate: $200 – $400)
Hammer: $700 (Estimate: $800 – $1,200)
Hammer: $1,000 (Estimate: $1,000 – $1,500)
The Jewelry and Luxury Goods category emerged as a breakout vertical in 2025, with hammer totals increasing more than 65%. Among the standout pieces: a Jean Schlumberger for Tiffany & Co. 18k Gold and Diamond ‘Tulip’ Necklace with matching earclips, which fetched a hammer price of $100,000 at auction. This success reflects growing demand for rarity and excellence from both collectors and fashion-forward buyers.
Hammer: $150,000 (Estimate: $125,000 – $175,000)
Hammer: $30,000 (Estimate: $30,000 – $50,000)
Hammer: $14,000 (Estimate: $2,000-$4,000)
Single-Owner Sales: Celebrating A Life of Collecting
The interior of Aso Tavitian’s home in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
In January, The Collection of Sanford L. Smith celebrated the legacy of an art world showman and Americana enthusiast, with highlights including Charles Burchfield’s Between Two Willows and a Rare Hackney Horse and Hansom Cab Weathervane.
STAIR presented a three-day sale ofThe Collection of Aso O. Tavitian in March 2025, offering property from his homes in Stockbridge and Manhattan. The sale saw immense interest from global buyers and achieved record hammer prices for the exquisite group of garden statuary, as well as strong overall results across the Fine and Decorative Arts. The sale proceeds from The Collection of Aso O. Tavitian benefited the Tavitian Foundation and advanced the work of the Clark Art Institute, located near Tavitian’s Stockbridge home in the Berkshires, a notable component that inspired both auctioneer encouragement and purposeful, competitive bidding. Thank you to Peter Pennoyer for partnering with STAIR on a special feature about his decades-long collaboration with Tavitian, pulling back the curtain on the curious and insatiable collector.
Hammer: $26,000 (Estimate: $10,000 – $15,000)
Hammer: $18,000 (Estimate: $2,000 – $4,000)
Hammer: $20,000 (Estimate: $2,000 – $4,000)
Hammer: $51,000 (Estimate: $40,000 – $60,000)
Hammer: $22,000 (Estimate: $1,000 – $1,500)
Hammer: $30,000 (Estimate: $20,000 – $30,000)
October 2025 saw the sale of Hyde Park Antiques at STAIR and a joyous moment to the share the story of Bernard Karr and New York’s most respected destinations for collectors, designers, and curators seeking the finest examples of English furniture. The Karr and Stair families have shared a long-standing relationship in the trade, and this sale was a true celebration of the legacy of the Karr family.
Among the year’s defining moments was River Ranch: The Collection of Carole Harris. Across four sale days, STAIR offered nearly 750 lots of English, Italian, and French furniture, Fine Art, Porcelain, Silver, and Jewelry. A limited-edition commemorative book accompanied the sale, offering rare insight into the world of Carole Harris and The River Ranch world through tributes from friends and design luminaries, charting her design prowess in bringing her vision to life for the Louis XIV-style chateau in California. With bidders spanning from Dallas to Sydney, this was our highest hammer for a single-owner sale to date. As STAIR President and Founder Colin Stair remarked, “The results of this sale affirm that the market for Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Century European furniture and decorative arts is not only alive but thriving.”
The Yellow Drawing Room in the interior of Carole Harris’ home from River Ranch: The Collection of Carole Harris at STAIR.
“The results of this sale affirm that the market for Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Century European furniture and decorative arts is not only alive but thriving.”
Hammer: $700,000 (Estimate: $150,000 – $250,000)
Hammer: $60,000 (Estimate: $3,000 – $5,000)
Hammer: $26,000 (Estimate: $10,000 – $15,000)
Hammer: $255,000 (Estimate: $80,000 – $120,000)
STAIR in 2026: Our 25th Anniversary
The successes of 2025 at STAIR reflect our enduring commitment to the categories we know best, and our ability to grow in new categories, offerings, and solutions with the utmost care and connoisseurship. Our growing client base of designers, private collectors, and institutions continues to respond to the unique balance of quality, narrative, and expertise we bring to every object, in every auction.
In 2026, STAIR will celebrate its 25th year in business. As we look to the future, our commitment remains: to tell meaningful stories through the material we present, to uphold the standards of quality and scholarship, and to inspire the next generation of collectors and connoisseurs.
We thank you for a remarkable year, and we look forward to what’s next.
Related Articles:
Results from River Ranch: The Collection of Carole Harris
The Architect & The Collector: A Conversation with Peter Pennoyer on Aso Tavitian’s Legacy
Sanford L. Smith: The Showman Who Revolutionized New York’s Art Fair Scene
A Striking ‘Tulip’ Necklace by Tiffany & Co., Schlumberger at STAIR
