Yesterday, we journeyed to Manhattan's upper east side to Sotheby's for a very special event: The Estate of Brooke Astor, the woman who was surely America's grand dame and New York City's most treasured citizen. We were proud to count ourselves among Brooke Astor's countless admirers.
All of the late Mrs. Astor's belongings will be auctioned off beginning tomorrow morning at 10:30 am. Before they are sold, we had a chance to view them and we can tell you that this is a vast and near-priceless collections of jewels, paintings, silverware, fine china, furniture, antiques, books, awards and honors, collectibles, objects d'art, and lots more.
The photos above give you just a taste of the collection that Mrs. Astor amassed over a lifetime that spanned more than a century.
From Sotheby's:
A renowned philanthropist and tireless champion of the institutions of the city of New York, Brooke Astor was a legendary figure in New York society. Sotheby’s is privileged to offer the contents of two of Mrs. Astor’s residences – her legendary Park Avenue duplex apartment, with the iconic library designed by Albert Hadley, and her country estate Holly Hill. The collection reflects her life and passions: from Chinese lacquer furniture, clocks, mirror paintings and export porcelain that recall her early years in Asia, to the drawings and paintings of dogs – many depicting her own – that demonstrate her love for animals, to a coral and ruby lion brooch by Van Cleef & Arpels that evokes the iconography of The New York Public Library, an institution she supported for decades. The rooms and contents of both residences display a distinctive mix of comfort and refinement, and reveal a woman of elegance and grace who would come to embody New York society during her lifetime.All photos copyright 2012 by Dan Cirucci.
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