Sotheby's Auction: The Vision of Aso O. Tavitian - A Glimpse into the Country House Collection

Like his art-loving forebears of the Gilded Age, Aso Tavitian constructed his own contemporary ‘cottage’ in the Berkshire hills of Western Massachusetts, perched on a steep ridge adjacent to Naumkeag and down the road from The Mount, where Edith Wharton received Henry James and other prominent literary and social figures of the day. His country house was no different from the town residence, filled with a collection of important English furniture and needlework, Chinese and Japanese works of art and great Old Master pictures and sculpture. Like its owner, the house was always warm, welcoming and accessible, and never a static or formidable museum setting. Each floor of the house is an enfilade of treasure-laden rooms whose character constantly evolves with the changing light, in particular the Art Reference Library and remarkable Zodiac Room on the garden level, inviting quiet contemplation of present and past eras in a magnificent Berkshires landscape.