Dogs & diamonds for sale

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Dec 18, 2013

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PORTRAIT OF A SPANIEL PUP Estimated value: $800 to $1,200 This painting of a lovable spaniel pup with lots of fur and personality, attributed to Eugene Lambert, is part of a massive collection of dog paintings owned by Astor. Most of them were hung at her country estate, Holly Hill, in the foyer, along the spiral entry staircase and in the master bedroom. “They’re 19th century for the most part,” says Sotheby’s Elaine Whitmire. “She just loved them. That is Mrs. Astor.” Describing her collection to Architectural Digest in 1982, Astor said: “I have pictures of dogs tearing up a newspaper; dogs obviously adoring their masters, and carrying notes or slippers or gray top hats in their mouths; dogs mourning their masters; dogs sleeping or playing; and others simply posing.” In fact, Astor assembled so many of the paintings, usually a Victorian hobby, that she set a new trend for collecting them in the modern age. Courtesy Sotheby’s

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TIFFANY SEAFLOWER BROOCH Estimated value: $7,500 to $10,000 This brooch is made from 18 karat gold, platinum and diamonds, and Astor wore it in an unconventional way. “She had been awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom from Bill Clinton, and she loved to wear it. It was one of the things she was most proud of,” says Lisa Hubbard, Sotheby’s North and South American chairman of international jewelry. “Now, the gentlemen who wore it just pinned it on their pockets of their jackets. But she would pin it on her dress and use that little Tiffany brooch to cover the top of it, as if it were hanging from it. So she personalized it, making it more feminine. Because otherwise, it was just a ribbon with a medal hanging from the end. So this is the piece she would often put at the top of it, as if it were suspending the medal.” Courtesy Sotheby’s

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Brooke Astor Ron Galella/WireImage

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BULGARI EMERALD AND DIAMOND NECKLACE Estimated value: $250,000 to $350,000 This 22.8-carat emerald ring set in platinum and flanked by diamonds was given to Astor in 1953 when her soon-to-be-third husband, Vincent, proposed. Not one to put precious stones behind glass, Astor “loved to wear it, she wore it when she traveled,” says Sotheby’s Lisa Hubbard. “It symbolized the beginning of their relationship,” she says, “just as [this] Bulgari necklace was the last, and symbolized the end.” Vincent commissioned the stunning necklace from Mr. Sotirios Bulgari himself, who in 1958 was summoned from Rome to London, where the Astors were on holiday. “Bulgari came out with a selection of stones [and] they chose [them] together.” Vincent died less than a year later, and the emerald jewelry was forgotten until two years on, when Astor received a package in the mail containing the necklace. Inside was a note from Vincent asking Bulgari to finish the necklace in time for Astor’s birthday. “Mrs. Astor spent some time deciding on whether she should accept it — according to her, she felt it was too lavish a gift for the time — but, at the end of the day, decided it was his last, wonderful gift.” “I am very sentimental about it,” Astor wrote in her 1981 autobiography. As for the design, it was “pretty and not ostentatious, but very elegant.” The necklace was also the subject of controversy: While Astor’s health was failing, her daughter-in-law Charlene Marshall paraded the precious gems at the 2004 Tony Awards, and in 2009 her husband Anthony Marshall was convicted of defrauding his mother. Courtesy Sotheby’s

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EMERALD RING Estimated value: $100,000 to $150,000 Courtesy Sotheby’s

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Wiener dogs were one of Astor’s favorite canines. Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

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CRYSTAL DACHSHUND FIGURINE Estimated value: $4,000 to $6,000 Wiener dogs were one of Astor’s favorite canines and she collected many artifacts, including this French gold-mounted figurine, representing the breed. Late in life, Astor’s companions were the two dachshunds Boysie and Girlsie — until her son Anthony Marshall neglected them, as well as his own mother as she aged past 100. Astor loved to take her dogs on long walks in the country — and said she would “dance with the dogs” to cheer up her husband Vincent. But she didn’t just limit herself to wiener dogs. “She [owned] King Charles spaniels and an array of dogs over her life,” says Whitmire. As a child in China, Astor’s father bribed her to start learning the country’s language with the promise of a pet. Soon, she had a pony, a donkey, five hedgehogs and three dogs. Courtesy Sotheby’s

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Astor Court, located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a Ming-style re-creation of a Chinese courtyard, which opened in 1981, alongside the Douglas Dillon Galleries for Chinese Painting and Calligraphy. Marty Lederhandler/AP

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ASTOR COURT BROOCH Estimated value: $15,000 to $20,000 Astor Court, located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a Ming-style re-creation of a Chinese courtyard, which opened in 1981, alongside the Douglas Dillon Galleries for Chinese Painting and Calligraphy. “[The brooch] was commissioned for Mrs. Astor [by former Met president Douglas Dillon] in 1982 as a gift [to Astor], symbolizing their love of ancient works of art,” says Hubbard. Made from 18 karat gold and colored diamonds, it was modeled after one of the stone compositions exhibited (at right). Astor, who spent four years in China as a child, also collected Asian and Asian-influenced objects, many of which are at the auction next week. Courtesy Sotheby’s

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Although it’s not known how Astor acquired the colored diamond, coral and ruby brooch — it has movable legs and tail — it’s clear that it represented the New York Public Library, which she supported generously, and its iconic “Library Lions.” “That would have drawn her to it,” says Hubbard. “It’s the only cat jewelry she has, and there’s no record of it having been a gift.” “I have to think that [the brooch] was something she considered to be symbolic [of] the New York Public Library.” Courtesy Sotheby’s VAN CLEEF & ARPELS LION BROOCHEstimated value: $20,000 to $30,000

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GUEST BOOK FROM VINCENT ASTOR’S MOTOR YACHT Estimated value: $250,000 to $350,000 According to the guest book of the Nourmahal, built in 1928, the Astors not only entertained FDR onboard, but, in 1940, Vincent Astor leased the yacht to the Coast Guard — for a dollar — to be used as a weather station vessel. It was transferred to the Navy in 1942, then sold the following year. The log contains 17 pages, beginning with an entry from the 1937 America’s Cup Races (pictured, left), signed by guests such as Barbara Cushing (a k a Vogue editor and socialite Babe Paley). Courtesy Sotheby’s

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GUEST BOOK FROM VINCENT ASTOR’S MOTOR YACHT Estimated value: $250,000 to $350,000 Courtesy Sotheby’s

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SMOKING ACCOUTREMENTS Estimated value: $1,800 to $2,200 “They may not have smoked,” says Whitmire, but these smoking articles would have been used by guests calling at the Astor home. “When you’re talking about that time period, especially if you’re a great host or hostess, you made sure anyone who entered your house was at ease.” Here are three such articles: a Cartier table lighter, a wirework case holder engraved with Vincent Astor’s initials and a 14 karat engine-tuned pocket lighter. Courtesy Sotheby’s

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