Everything but the kitchen sink would be one way to describe the array of possessions owned by Lauren Bacall that will be auctioned in New York next week. Hundreds of items collected by the Hollywood siren will go on sale on Tuesday and Wednesday at Bonhams auction house.
The collection includes a marble table inscribed with “in the name of Allah” in Arabic calligraphy, Indian miniatures, a Japanese portable brass tea set, jewellery and clothes, art and furniture.
Items that date from her marriage to co-star Humphrey Bogart and sculptures by English artist Henry Moore are among the most-prized items.
“One thing with Lauren Bacall, when she collected she didn’t collect because of value or potential value,” said Jon King, the vice president and director of Bonhams in New York. “An item that cost US$100 (Dh367), if it appealed to her, she would buy it. If it was $100,000, if it appealed to her, she would buy it. Her aesthetic sense – that’s all that mattered.”
The most expensive of Moore’s maquettes are valued at $40,000 to $60,000. But diehard fans with a few hundred dollars to spare might be able to snap up some walking sticks.
Bacall died in August last year at the age of 89, in her nine-room home overlooking Central Park, which is also on the market, for $26 million. The proceeds will go to her three children.
The 740 lots – from Yves Saint Laurent evening wear to a cheese slicer, silver tea strainer, suitcases and papier mâché ornaments – filled Bacall’s apartment, and have toured the world.
From the Bogart years, come his black-granite games table and a pair of silver candelabras from their home in Los Angeles.
Interest has been tremendous from Hong Kong and China, as well as Tokyo, Los Angeles and Paris, Bacall’s favourite city, said King.
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