Ruth Bader Ginsburg's collar highlight of children's charity auction

Beaded judicial collar that belonged to late US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg going on the auction block

Late US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's collar, gavel and gloves are among many of her items being auctioned online, starting on September 7. Photo: Bonhams

Ginsburg's son said that this cake centrepiece reminded him of the film 'Titanic'. Photo: Bonhams

Ginsburg's collars are expected to fetch between $2,000 and $3,000, the auction house says. Photo: Bonhams

Ginsburg's personal photos will also be featured in the auction. Photo: Bonhams

Ginsburg's collars symbolised different things. Photo: Bonhams

A poster at the 2018 Women's March in Missoula, Montana, featuring Ginsburg. Photo: The Montana Suffragettes

After her death, Ginsburg lay in state at the US Capitol on September 25, 2020. Photo: Senate Democrats

Ginsburg with Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, in October 2010. Photo: US Supreme Court

Ginsburg officially accepts the Supreme Court nomination from president Bill Clinton on June 14, 1993. Photo: US National Archives

Ginsburg in her official court portrait. Photo: US Supreme Court

Ginsburg is featured on a mural in the U Street neighbourhood in Washington. Photo: Greg Flood

Mr Clinton watches as Ginsburg is sworn in to the Supreme Court. Photo: US National Archives

Former US president Jimmy Carter was the first to welcome Ginsburg into the White House. Photo: US National Archives

Democratic House minority leader Nancy Pelosi with Ginsburg during her annual Women's History Month reception in 2015. AP

A demonstrator carries a print of women’s rights champion Ginsburg as abortion rights activists march in protest against the overturning of the Roe v Wade verdict. AFP

Cream-coloured gloves, like the ones Ginsburg is wearing here, are part of the collection of almost 100 items being auctioned. AP

Sketches of political activist Ralph Nader and Ginsburg hang on a wall of Alison Dreith's home in southern Illinois. AP

Maryam and daughter Riley Brotine at a protest after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. Chicago Sun-Times / AP

A protester holds a sign with Ginsburg's picture during an abortion rights demonstration in New York. AP

Ginsburg at a US Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalisation ceremony at the New York Historical Society Museum and Library in Manhattan. Reuters

People gather for a candlelight vigil to pay their respects to Ginsburg in Washington Square Park, New York. EPA

A banner with flowers forms part of a makeshift memorial outside the US Supreme Court as people pay their respects to Ginsburg in Washington. AFP

Ginsburg's flag-draped casket rests on the Lincoln catafalque at the front of the US Supreme Court, on September 23, 2020. Getty / AFP

Flowers, candles, and signs at a makeshift memorial outside the US Supreme Court as people pay their respects to Ginsburg in Washington. AFP

Andrew Oros looks at messages of thanks and gratitude taped on a mural memorial to Ginsburg in Washington. AFP

An image of Ginsburg is projected on to the New York State Civil Supreme Court building in Manhattan after she died on September 18, 2020. She was affectionately known as the 'Notorious RBG'. Reuters

TV host Jimmy Kimmel stands before a photo of Ginsburg during the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, held online on September 20, 2020. AFP

Ginsburg died at the age of 87 after a battle with pancreatic cancer in 2020. AFP

A black mink fur coat and a signed opera poster belonging to Ginsburg were auctioned by Potomack Company Auctions in Alexandria, Virginia, in April. AP

Modern art belonging to Ginsburg was also auctioned in April by Potomack in Virginia. AP

A silver coffee and tea set and a signed photo of an opera singer were also part of the April auction. AP

A judicial collar made of gold glass beads that belonged to US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is being auctioned to benefit a charity, the first time any of her signature neckwear will be available for purchase.

The piece is part of a collection of about 100 items being sold in an online auction that begins on Wednesday. It concludes September 16, days before the two-year anniversary of the liberal judge's death at 87.

In addition to the collar, the items being auctioned include a pair of Ginsburg's opera glasses, a wooden gavel and artwork that hung in her Washington Watergate apartment.

There are quirky items, too. Her son, James, said in an interview about the collection: “It's hard not to mention about the cake topper.”

The fondant sculpture was commissioned by friends for one of the justice's birthdays and depicts her standing in a judicial robe with her arms outstretched on the bow of a battleship called The Notorious RBG, the justice's nickname. Mr Ginsburg said it reminds him a little bit of a scene from the movie Titanic.

This cake topper made for the justice by Sylvia Weinstock is part of the September auction. Photo: Bonham's

The auction also includes other Ginsburg fashion pieces: a white handbag, a shawl, scarves and two sets of fishnet lace gloves. She began wearing gloves in the late 1990s after undergoing colon cancer treatment.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the Supreme Court's first female member, suggested them as a way to prevent illness while shaking hands, but Ginsburg liked gloves so much that she kept wearing them.

US Supreme Court Judge Ginsburg dies at age 87 - video

But it was Ginsburg's collars — which she wore on the bench as an accessory to her black robe — that were her most notable fashion items. She had dozens, her son and daughter-in-law said.

The family donated several to the Smithsonian, including a sparkly black one she wore on the bench when she dissented in a case.

Speaking at an event in 2020, Ginsburg — who became a pop culture figure in later years — said that at the time, she was getting a collar “at least once a week” from fans worldwide.

The auction had initially been planned to include two of Ginsburg's collars. The other, made of fabric, was a gift from her law clerks. Stitched inside is a family motto: “It’s not sacrifice, it’s family.”

A previous online auction of 150 of items owned by Ginsburg raised $803,650 for Washington National Opera. AP

But the family said in a statement that they had decided to keep the collar and permanently loan it to “an appropriate institution where it can be displayed for all to see”.

The auction is the third this year of items owned by the justice, and her son said that it will be the last. In April, about 150 items — including art Ginsburg displayed in her home and office — raised more than $800,000 for the Washington National Opera, one of the late justice's passions.

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Bonhams, which is conducting the latest auction, estimated the current group of objects as selling for a little under $50,000. In January, however, an online auction of her books also conducted by Bonhams brought in $2.3 million, almost 30 times the presale estimate.

The auction house said it expects the collar to sell for $3,000 to $5,000.

In the earlier book auction, however, a copy of the Harvard Law Review from 1957-58 with Ginsburg's annotations sold for more than $100,000, shattering Bonhams' estimate of $2,500 to $3,500.

Proceeds from the current sale will fund an endowment in Ginsburg's honour benefiting SOS Children’s Villages, an organisation that supports vulnerable young people around the world.

Ginsburg’s daughter-in-law, Patrice Michaels, is on the organisation's advisory board. Ms Michaels, a composer and singer, said the gavel being auctioned is one Ginsburg gave her to use while performing a composition she had written about Ginsburg's dissents.

The gold beaded collar was also one she chose from Ginsburg's collection.

“I thought it was just literally so beautiful,” Ms Michaels said. “The aesthetic of it and the feel of it being as elegant as my mother-in-law appealed to me very much.”