Latest news with #RossMorrison
Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Record set in closing auction
Mid century furniture dealer Ross Morrison, known affectionately in Christchurch as Mr Mod, has sold his large collection. PHOTO: TIM CRONSHAW Christchurch's Mr Mod is going out on a high note with a pair of 1960s armchairs selling for a world record price at the auction of his large mid-century furniture collection. Ross Morrison signed off as a collector and dealer after the two-day auction of 674 lots last weekend culminated in bidding reaching $13,500 for the teak armchairs by Danish designer Erik Kirkegaard. By the final bid the overall total matched the $500,000 netted from a previous Auckland auction, once after-sales and a buyers' premium of just over 17% were added up. Among the highlights was another pair of Kirkegaard teak-framed armchairs selling for $7750 and a first-series black leather egg chair by Arne Jacobsen, imported into New Zealand in 1961, making $9000. The collection was assembled by Mr Morrison over four decades of dealing and trading in decorative arts. He has spent the past week overseeing deliveries and the picking up of Italian, United States and Scandinavian interior design from the 1950s to the 1970s alongside vintage, Georgian, William IV and earlier antiques. Mr Morrison said he was both exhausted and elated after a better than expected result. He was glad to see the collection go to new homes throughout the country and a few items heading to Australia with no regrets, he said. "All I've got left is an American iron chandelier, a folding screen from San Francisco, an antique photograph from Italy, a fish bait box I think from Tokelau, a pottery platter and a New Zealand pottery bowl and that is it, nothing else and it's all gone." Mr Morrison became a specialist of mid century interior design after accumulating furniture on trips to the United States, France, Italy and Scandinavia before the movement caught on. More than 300 people attended a mid-week preview night to view the lots and farewell him. "They were disappointed I wasn't in business any more because there was no-one taking over that reign. With the international market being so high it's very hard to repeat that. Nobody could put up a collection like this again because there was stuff from my teenage years that sold. ... In the end you have to let it go and let other people have that enjoyment."
Business Wire
12-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Adams Street Announces Final Close of Oversubscribed European Venture Fund
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Adams Street Partners, LLC, a leading private markets investment firm with over $62 billion in assets under management, today announced the final close of its oversubscribed European Venture Fund (the 'Fund'). Driven by strong investor demand for Europe's dynamic venture ecosystem, the Fund secured more than €270 million in capital commitments, significantly exceeding its fundraising target. The Fund will leverage Adams Street's global investment platform to strategically target exposure to some of the most innovative and disruptive companies within the region with the goal of driving outsized outcomes. It will pursue a disciplined strategy focused on both primary commitments and direct investments in venture-backed companies. A substantial share of the Fund will be allocated to early-stage opportunities with a particular focus on those advancing technology and healthcare solutions. This milestone builds on Adams Street's 25-year track record of venture investing in the region and reflects the continued strength of the firm's venture capital franchise. It also follows the $1.2 billion close of the firm's oversubscribed Venture Innovation Fund IV Program last year. 'Our selective strategy and long-standing presence in the venture ecosystem have fostered deep, multi-decade relationships with top venture managers worldwide. Combined with our historical performance and team expertise, we are proud that we have been able to offer our LPs differentiated access to opportunities within the next generation of high-growth companies,' said Brijesh Jeevarathnam, Partner & Global Head of Fund Investments at Adams Street. 'We believe there is a compelling opportunity in European venture capital as it helps drive the digital transformation of the global economy. In these times of dislocation and change, the growing appetite for a dedicated and disciplined strategy is reflected in the continued confidence of our investors,' said Ross Morrison, Partner, Primary Investments at Adams Street. 'We are excited to deploy this capital into compelling opportunities across the European venture landscape.' About Adams Street Partners Adams Street Partners is a global private markets investment manager with investments in more than 30 countries across five continents. The firm is 100% employee-owned and has $62 billion in assets under management across primary, secondary, growth equity, credit, and co-investment strategies. Adams Street strives to generate actionable investment insights across market cycles by drawing on over 50 years of private markets experience, proprietary intelligence, and trusted relationships. Adams Street has offices in Austin, Beijing, Boston, Chicago, London, Menlo Park, Munich, New York, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, and Toronto. Visit This information is not investment advice or an offer or sale of any security or investment product or investment advice. Offerings are made only pursuant to a private offering memorandum containing important information. Statements are made as of the date of this release, and there is no implication that the information contained herein is correct as of any time subsequent to such date. References herein to specific sectors, strategies, or investments are not to be considered a recommendation or solicitation for any such sector, strategy, or investment. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Projections or forward-looking statements contained in the Paper are only estimates and there can be no assurance that the results set forth in the projections or the events predicted will be attained, and actual results may be significantly different from the projections. Also, general economic factors, which are not predictable, can have a material impact on the reliability of projections or forward-looking statements. Adams Street Partners, LLC is a US investment adviser governed by applicable US laws, which differ from laws in other jurisdictions.
Otago Daily Times
02-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Lifetime of dealing to culminate in ‘huge' final auction
Respected Mid Century furniture dealer Ross Morrison, known affectionately in Christchurch as Mr Mod, sits on an adjustable chair made in the mid-1960s. Behind him are some of the 700 lots from his collection which will go to auction on May 24-25. PHOTO: TIM CRONSHAW A celestial globe picked up at a flea market is perhaps Ross Morrison's greatest find over a lifetime of dealing and trading in decorative arts. The Christchurch collector and dealer, specialising in the mid century movement of interior design, could at once see the value of the 1810 spherical antique made by the Cary globe-maker family. "I found that in a flea market in California. First of all I saw the base sitting on the ground and I realised this was a Georgian base for a globe and casually asked the stall holder if he had the other bit. This guy picked it up and threw it to me." Mr Morrison handed over $US60 for a globe worth today in the direction of $10,000. This is one of the few decorative art pieces from his personal collection that will not go into nearly 700 lots for auction over two days at an Addington warehouse from May 24. In the catalogue Italian, United States and Scandinavian interior design from the 1950s to the 1970s mingles with vintage, Georgian, William IV and earlier antiques. They will all go under the hammer, marking an end to 45 years of buying and trading. Retirement in theory beckons with the big cleanout giving him more time to pursue sculpting and put his deep voice to work on the singing stage. "This is the grand finale. A dealer is always a dealer and I'm not going to say I'm going to stop buying, but I won't do anything of this scale again — this is huge. I've been doing this since I was 16 years old." The auction is the last of three over the past three years, with one of the first two staged in Auckland netting $500,000. With a ruthlessness, he's limited himself to the contents of a single house and reserved a few pieces for his family. Almost the entire Mid Century furnished contents of an Ian Athfield-designed house in St Martins were emptied out, as was a former warehouse. "The first two auctions were stock from my Mr Mod store with a few antique pieces I put in as well from my personal collection. But this one is stuff I could never sell or let anyone else have. "This is quite a big thing for me to do and quite an emotional journey because it's the end of what I've done for a business." Mr Morrison left school in the sixth form to join his cabinet-maker and antiques-dealer father, John, at a Victoria Street shop. They shared a special bond with the elder Morrison passing on his knowledge to his son. Much of this was fine Georgian and Victorian furniture and examples he picked up along the way will be in the auction. A lady's inlaid writing desk from Denmark dates from about 1870 and nearby is a William IV dressing table and a rosewood writing desk he's attributed to British cabinet makers Gillows of Lancaster from the 1830s to 1840s. A Georgian bureau bookcase from about 1800 is within arm's reach of a painted and gilded Italian console table. "There is quite a bit of Italian here which I've loved and collected. A Venetian chair, you can see examples of that in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It would have come out of a big hall in Venice or Florence, but this is a Venetian one and I have some documentation on that." Evidence of his wide taste is a Macassar ebony sideboard in an almost mahogany colour with darkish purple streak from the Art Deco period, made in the 1920s to 1930s. Many French antiques in the collection he also, until now, could not part with. They come from when he set up a flea market in Paris with friends and a former partner and then buying French antiques to stock Christchurch shops in the 1990s. Likewise, a few Japanese creations are from when he used to buy in Japan and on-sell in England. Then there is the vast Mid Century modern style within his collection. When his father died at 63 in 1995, he was lost and searching for something new. "I was very interested in Mid Century furniture when not many were into it then. I bought a few pieces in France which I still have which are not in this sale and I have kept — a sideboard and a light which turned out to be by [Italian architect and designer] Carlo Scarpa. I've got places for those, but I can't fit everything in this auction into a house." Retained are a pair of Tobia Scarpa leather lounge chairs because, at 62, he likes comfort as well as good design. A set of six Herbert Hirche "space-age looking" dining chairs in leather with polyester resin on brushed stainless legs were pulled out by his wife at the last minute. Also staying is a cabinet made by his father when he sat his cabinet-making examination in London and a couple of projects such as a Danish Empire period sofa will be kept to be restored. Otherwise, much of the Mid Century design which sparked a collecting passion will go. The late 1960s were when his father's friends used to buy houses and everyone would pitch in to pour concrete floors on weekends. A few of them were architects who designed their own furniture which caught his young eye. He liked the aesthetics of the 1960s American and Italian style and the simplified modern Danish design. Ahead of his time, he began buying unfashionable post-war items — well made and well designed — before the stylish furniture created during a hotbed of modernism design became popular. "People laughed at me when I showed them what I was buying. I did a show in Auckland with French antiques and a bit of Mid Century as well and nobody could get their head around it." The style suited the New Zealand lifestyle and housing, he said. When he first started buying in the United States, George Nelson, Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen and Harry Bertoia were among the big names. But he also had the foresight to buy some of the best of Danish design on these trips. The interior works of Arne Vodder, Hans Wegner, Arne Jacobsen and Borge Mogensen were less popular then and more affordable than the American designers. "Then I looked at buying in Denmark when the American market picked up on the Scandinavian design and they got really big into it. I just started buying through auction houses and dealers and then the final thing I did, which I always wanted to do, was go buying in Italy." He's always been drawn to the boldness of post-war Italian furniture with its innovation, flamboyance and testing the edge of design. Such has been the wave of Mid Century popularity that the last trip to Europe cost him a small fortune and put an end to trading travel. Put him on the spot to name his favourite designer and he will go to the late Carlo Mollino. From a wealthy Turin family, the idiosyncratic architect designed everything from cars and furniture to ski lodges and a scaffolding system and even a skiing technique. A visit to his apartment, Casa Mollino, by appointment in 2016 only increased his admiration. Most of his one-off designs have ended up with European collections with one of his tables selling in New York for $US6.2 million in 2020. Only later editions of the Italian's design — such as a chair made by Cassina — have found their way to Mr Morrison. Great respect is also reserved for US designers such as the Eames duo with their design flair still being copied today. Some of their original furniture is in the auction. A collection of lighting includes a "candelabra chandeliery" design from Italy and a Murano light with a barley twist in the glass. As he strolls around the polished-floor warehouse, he points out an adjustable chair with a fibreglass arm shell on a star base in cast aluminium, made in the mid-1960s. He muses a large Italian lacquered cabinet with a Samurai warrior on it will likely find a home in a hotel or entranceway. Sure to attract interest is a commode with carved, poly-chromed and gilded pair of dragons at the platform base and a marble top — likely Spanish — which came from Hollywood actor James Coburn's house. The same could be said for the iconic Arne Jacobsen egg chair brought into New Zealand by an architect and bought from a family member. Perhaps the oldest item is the 18th century Venetian chair with a William and Mary inlaid mulberry chester drawers vying for this honour and the latest a 1980s Mitsubishi X10 vertical music centre. The shedding of possessions going back to his youth extends to an 1830 Chinese export lacquer collector's cabinet which he bought at 18. Unlike the other auctions, he's running this one himself, renting the warehouse on a short term lease and bringing in an auctioneer from Dunedin's Proctor Auctions because he likes their old style banter. At the final fall of the hammer it will be all over. "Once it's gone it won't be repeated and this is it. I'm happy to let it go and for other people to enjoy."
