It required four days for Sotheby’s to sell the vast collection of billionaire banker Edmond J. Safra and his wife Lily. By the time the contents of their various homes in the U.S., Switzerland, and France crossed the block, the final tally was $45.9 million. Top lot at the series of auctions was an 18th century Louis XVI ormolu-mounted French commode, which sold for $6.9m.
Another Louis XV-era ebonized commode realized $3.4m, above its $3m low estimate. Among the biggest surprises at the New York event, which ended on October 21st, was the $613,500 fetched by 17th century ivory cup, which had been estimated at $150,000. A pair of Victorian gilt-bronze tables by Holland & Sons also soared above their $150,000 low estimate to $1.1m. Highly valued paintings did less well. Tissot’s “Sur la Tamise,“ which had carried an estimate of $1.5m-$2.5m, failed to find a buyer.
Read more at Bloomberg.
