Billings Auction

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Billings Auction

A modern art & design auction house located in the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles.

BILLINGS events and live in-house auctions are held at our brick-and-mortar space, located at 2124 Sacramento Street in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles’ Arts District. Created to provide an accessible platform for the acquisition of quality modern design, furniture, art, decorative objects and accessories, BILLINGS was initiated to fill a void in Los Angeles’ design market through a decided absence of curated channels for the acquisition of exceptional historical and contemporary items.

09/04/2026

IN FOCUS: Angelo Lelii: Rarities as part of Fall Modern Design

Born in Ancona, Angelo Lelii moved with his family to Milan, where he studied at ISIA (Superior Institute of Industrial Art) at the University of Decorative Arts in Monza, outside Milan. It was in Monza also where as early as 1939 he started working out of a small basement workshop, producing lamps and chandelier designs with clean lines, strong attention to detail, and utilizing the newest technologies. After having his work interrupted by the War, in 1946 three of his designs were featured in Domus Magazine.

Arredoluce was founded in 1947, in Monza, by Angelo Lelli. Over the following decades, the company’s collaborators included renowned designers such as Giò Ponti, Ettore Sottsass, Pier Giacomo, and Achille Castiglioni. The most well-known designs of Angelo Lelii are the Triennale floor lamp model 12128 (1947) and the Cobra table lamp (1964), which became famous for its unique shape and for the low voltage used by incorporating the transformer in its base. His other iconic lights are the Tris lamp (1946), the Eye floor light (1950), the Stella ceiling light (1950), and the President table lamp (1970).

Angelo Lelii’s lamps and lighting objects stand out for their extremely simple designs that strive for minimal complexity and for their strong sense of unadorned sensitivity. Thanks to Angelo Lelii’s unique approach to lighting design, Arredoluce quickly built a reputation for creating premium quality lights based on clean, simple, and functional designs. And that is also the reason why the lamps from Lelii are so wanted amongst collectors and mid century design lovers. His lights are unique, technical master pieces and a good investment.

ANGELO LELII
Rare three-arm floor lamp, model no. 12300, 1949
Painted aluminum, brass, marble. Produced by Arredoluce, Italy.
Base cast with “ARREDOLUCE MONZA”, “ITALY”, and “12300”.
Lot 104

ANGELO LELII
Floor lamp, 1950
Enamelled aluminum, brass, marble. Produced by Arredoluce, Italy.
Interior of shade retains producer’s label.
Lot 17

09/02/2026

IN FOCUS: Dieter Rams

Dieter Rams’ name is literally synonymous with good design. He created a 10 tenet tightly controlled system of what was ‘good’ and how those values are communicated. Agree, or disagree, he is an icon of modern industrial design, with his work for Braun being at the forefront of his oeuvre.  BILLINGS is proud to offer one of his most iconic pieces for Braun as part of Fall Modern Design - the completely modular Atelier system, from the 1980s. This unit features 6 pieces: ‘P4’ record player, ‘A2’ amplifier, ‘T2’ tuner, ‘C3’ cassette recorder, ‘CD3’ CD player, together with original stand, and cord cover.  Rams was the head of the design department at Braun from 1961 to 1995, and in the scope of that changed the way that not only products are designed, but how the general public view the way products are designed. By attaching a higher standard to his own work, it forced companies worldwide to consider their aesthetic values.

Dieter Rams: ‘Atelier’ Stereo System for Braun: Lot 162

BILLINGS Fall Modern Design: September 19

08/31/2026

IN FOCUS: Arthur Espenet Carpentet

BILLINGS is thrilled to offer a set of 6 ‘Wishbone’ chairs by Arthur Espenet Carpenter (Lot 223) as part of Fall Modern Design, September 19.

Via the Smithsonian:

Arthur Espenet Carpenter was born in New York City in 1920. He earned a B.A. in Economics and English from Dartmouth in 1942, then entered the Navy for four years, “giving me plenty of time to think of whether I wanted to end up in Wall Street or in my father’s business, or whatever.” After World War II he worked in the Oriental art importing business and decided he wanted to be “a part of the making, the production business. I wanted a physical job, some kind that would allow me to express myself creatively.” So, just to see if he could do it, he moved to San Francisco, bought a lathe and with no idea of becoming a craftsman—rather to make things, sell them, and be independent—he began making wooden bowls and other treen ware.

By the mid-50s Carpenter found himself with a thriving custom furniture buisness with six employees and no time to build any pieces himself. “I was becoming just what I was running away from … the business man, waiting on customers, doing the selling, and telling the employees what to do.”

To restore what he considered a lost balance, he moved his family to Bolinas, California where, after a lean first year, customers began coming to his rural location. Not knowing in the beginning that it would take eight years to finish, Carpenter decided to build a house.

Much of his work is one-of-a-kind pieces. Some customers simply designate what they need and give him freedom to proceed as he likes, others ask for a sketch or model first. Many come to his showroom for the first time, to order perhaps a dining room table, return in a year for eight chairs to go with it, and later for other pieces, “so, in time I find that once I sell something to a customer, I’m selling to the same customer for the next five, six years.”

A primitive directiness and strength characterizes Carpenter’s furniture, and seeing no point in “making ivory balls within ivory balls,” he tries to find the most economic use of time and material.

05/12/2026

BILLINGS HATS! What better way to prep for Summer (and our Summer Modern Design Sale) than a NEW HAT! Designed by our friend and embroidered in Highland Park by Advanced Stitchworks, these will go quick! 30 dollars a piece, message (or email us) if you want one!

04/30/2026

BILLINGS Summer Modern Design, coming June 20th. A sneak peek here including Ken Erwin, Rick Owens and Maarten Baas.

04/15/2026

…especially in the Summer. More *very* soon…

*cue Randy Newman

03/31/2026

Our LAST CALL sale (link/bio) is live! Select pieces from both Spring Modern Design and Outdoor Living available with ‘buy it now’ pricing! Enjoy!

03/30/2026

Summer Modern Design, June 20th. Accepting consignments.

Address

2124 Sacramento Street
Los Angeles, CA
90021

Telephone

+12135842240

Website

http://billingsauction.com/

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