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S o a n e B r i t a i n turns 25 this year, marking the miles- tone with a new collection inspired by the history and culture of Egypt. The Egyptomania collection includes fabrics, furniture, and lighting along with a collaboration with Yasmin Hayat, a British artist with Syrian heritage. Soane's founder, Lulu Lytle, visited Egypt as a teenager and studied Egyptology and ancient history at University College in London. Lytle founded Soane Britain in 1997 to design and produce furniture with the craftsmanship of antiques. Her ambitious DESIGN NOTES undertaking involved a year of research and a road trip around Britain in search of blacksmiths, silversmiths, chair makers, saddlers, and rattan weavers. More than two decades later, Soane is renowned for producing heritage-quality furnishings and preserving a dying crafts industry in Britain. The company's network of artisans includes 59 independent workshops across the UK, from a glassblower in Scotland to a coppersmith in Cornwall, cabinetmakers and saddlers in Suffolk, and metalworkers in Essex. Lytle commissioned weavers at Britain's last remaining rattan workshop to produce her first rattan designs in 2004; Soane later bought the workshop, and in 2016 purchased one of the last surviving workshops in Dorset that still hand- made chairs using traditional techniques. Egyptomania by Soane Britain, at soane.co.uk. RS H usband-and-wife duo François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne were two of the 20th-century's most important artists, p ro d u c i n g s u r re a l i s t sculptures and decorative arts based on naturalistic forms, including François-Xavier's celebrated sheep sculptures. In mid-November, Christie's will offer 250 lots in a series of auctions of their work at Rockefeller Center and online — the first sale of this scope ever held in the U.S. It will include major sculptures by Les Lalanne, as they are known collectively, such as the Grand Requin, the Console Gorille, the Grand Poisson Paysage, and the Choupatte, as well as numerous pieces of jewelry and works on paper. The collection will be displayed at Christie's galleries at Rockefeller Center prior to the sales. Stay tuned for more details next month. christies.com. Rebecca Sherman So Surreal Leave it to Lulu Soane Britain Rattan Lily sofa Dryad rattan Whalebone chair Dryad rattan Leighton desk Installation view of "Les Lalanne," 2019, at Kasmin, New York, with Moutons de Laine and mirror by Claude and Françoise-Xavier Lalanne Palm wall light Soane Britain Argo lamp PHOTO:CHRISTOPHER STACH; LES LALANNE © 2019 ARS, NYC / ADAGP, PARIS; COURTESY KASMIN. 48