The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is to deaccession more than 200 decorative arts objects, including English furniture, porcelain and silver, in a dedicated sale at Christie’s on 27 October. The proceeds will go towards future acquisitions as the museum prepares to refurbish its decorative arts galleries. The pre-sale estimates for the objects, which include 17th-century Jacobean oak coffers and a 19th-century Regency sofa table, range from $500 to $100,000. Luke Syson, the museum’s chairman of European sculpture and decorative arts, says the museum’s staff decided what to sell by evaluating “which pieces belong in a museum and which… would sing louder and better in someone’s home”.
