6 Fascinating Auction Sales from Around the World
Breakfast at Tiffany’s Script
Sold at Christie’s London (September 27)Fittingly, Tiffany & Co. snagged Audrey Hepburn’s working script from the 1961 Paramount production for a record £632,750 ($846,620), the top lot in a ten-hour auction of the film and fashion icon’s personal collection. Wardrobe highlights included ballet flats, a Burberry trench coat, and couture by her longtime friend Hubert de Givenchy.
Left: Howell Conant photograph of Audrey Hepburn during filming of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Right: A photograph of the script.
Photo: Left: Howell Conant/Paramount/kobal/rex/shutterstock. Right: Courtesy of Christie’s
Diamond, Emerald, and Ruby Brooch (Ca. 1900)
Sold at Bonhams New York (September 19)The consignor’s mother purchased this jewel for $8 at a garage sale, believing it to be a costume piece. Authentication revealed that it featured a 1.39-carat diamond, a 1.5-carat Colombian emerald, and a 0.6-carat Burmese ruby. At $26,250, it wasn’t the most valuable lot, but it certainly was the stuff Antiques Roadshow dreams are made of.
Photo: Courtesy of Bonhams
Ferrari 365 GTC CoupE (1968)
Sold at the Zoute Grand Prix, Belgium (October 6)In Bonhams’ fifth annual sale during the classic-car festival in the seaside resort town of Knokke-Heist, this extremely rare Gran Turismo model brought €805,000 ($953,000). The 20th of only 150 made, it was impeccably restored and came with the original sales brochure from Ferrari, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary.
Photo: Courtesy of Bonhams
Claude Lalanne, Bureau Croco (2008)
Sold at Christie’s Paris (September 12)An auction of more than 1,000 objects from the late decorator Alberto Pinto’s Paris apartment left no doubt the creator of luxurious interiors was also a consummate collector. The top three lots were pieces by the 93-year-old Lalanne, whose whimsical desk draped with a gilt-bronze crocodile sold for €847,500 ($1 million).
Photo: Courtesy of Christie's
Hurvin Anderson, Country Club: Chicken Wire (2008)
Sold at Christie’s London (October 6)This large-scale painting by the 52-year-old British artist fetched a record £2,648,750 ($3.46 million) on the heels of his being awarded the 2017 Turner Prize. Anderson’s of-the-moment landscapes explore the way identity and community can be represented. In this case, a manicured tennis court with an imposing fence alludes to the legacy of colonialism in Jamaica, where the artist’s parents were born.
Photo: Courtesy of Christie’s
Song Dynasty Brush Washer
Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong (October 3)A 900-year-old bowl, measuring just over five inches wide, sparked a 20-minute bidding war that set a new record of HK$294,287,500 ($37.7 million) for Chinese ceramics. Commissioned by the imperial court, and one of only four Ru guanyao wares in private hands, it is a shining example of the esteemed kiln’s luminous “ice crackle” pattern and meticulous simplicity.
Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby’s
