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Updated: 2005-02-23 10:43
Kennedy knickknacks sell for big bucks in NY sale

美国前总统肯尼迪魅力不减 专场拍卖再掀高潮

Kennedy knickknacks sell for big bucks in NY sale

A turned oak and brown painted rocking armchair is displayed at a preview of property from the homes of former President John F. Kennedy at Sotheby's in New York on February 8, 2005.

Lovers of Kennedy lore paid $5.5 million for some common possessions of former President John F. Kennedy and his family in an auction of art, furniture and other effects from their homes, Sotheby's said on Thursday.

A Chippendale-style slant-front secretary bookcase inlaid with the initials JFK and a version of the United States seal sold for $452,000. A portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy with her children Caroline and John Jr. painted by Aaron Shikler in 1968 fetched $216,000.

A rocking chair sold for $96,000. Rocking chairs were popular with the president to ease his severe back pain and were in all his homes.

The property was consigned by Caroline Kennedy, who plans to donate a portion of the proceeds from more than 600 lots to the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

Although the antique value of the items was just above $1 million, prices soared at auction because of their links with a family romanticized as America's political royalty.

Every lot on the block in the three-day auction found a buyer, with most items claiming high prices no matter how mundane they seemed.

A Louis Vuitton hatbox brought $54,000 compared with an estimated price of $100 to $200, and a doorstop valued at just $60 to $80 fetched $4,800.

The auction included family photos, chairs, tables, toys and glassware as well as artwork from Kennedy homes throughout the whole country and from their years in the White House.

A Sotheby's sale of 1,303 items after the death of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis fetched nearly $34.5 million, after a pre-sale estimate of $5 million.

"After my mother died in 1994, my brother and I were faced with the task of deciding what to do with her possessions, and after careful consideration, we sold some of them in 1996," the Kennedy daughter wrote in an introduction to the catalog.

"In the intervening years, and the death of my brother, I found myself again with more houses and belongings than I could possibly use or enjoy."

(Agencies)

苏达比拍卖行上周四(2月17日)透露,在肯尼迪家族艺术品、家具和其他私人物品的拍卖会上,美国前总统约翰·肯尼迪及其家人的一些普通物品被热爱者们一抢而光,总拍卖额高达550万美元。

一款齐本德尔式风格的正面倾斜的写字台式书架以45.2万美元的价格卖出,这件家具上镶嵌着肯尼迪姓名的首字母缩写JFK和一款美国图章。一幅杰奎琳·肯尼迪和她的两个孩子卡罗琳与小约翰的肖像画卖到了21.6万美元,此画为亚伦·申克勒1968年所作。

一把摇椅卖到了9.6万美元。肯尼迪总统很喜欢摇椅,在他所有的住所里都可以见到这种椅子,因为躺在摇椅上有助于缓解他严重的背部疼痛。

卡罗琳·肯尼迪是此次拍卖的委托人,她计划将拍卖这600多件物品所得的部分收益捐赠给肯尼迪图书馆基金会。

尽管这些物品作为古董的价值仅为100多万美元,但因为与肯尼迪家族之间的渊源,拍卖价格一路飙升。具有传奇色彩的肯尼迪家族被称为美国政治“皇室”。

在为期三天的拍卖活动中,展台上摆放的每件拍卖物品都找到了买主,而且大部分物品被拍出高价,尽管它们看上去是那么普通。

一个估价为100到200美元的“路易斯·威登牌”帽盒拍出了5.4万美元的高价,而一个仅值60到80美元的制门器居然也卖到了4800美元。

此次拍卖还包括家庭照片,椅子,桌子,玩具和玻璃器皿,还有来自肯尼迪在全美各地家中的艺术品,以及在白宫居住期间所存的艺术品。

苏达比拍卖行曾在前第一夫人杰奎琳·肯尼迪·奥纳西斯去世后拍卖了她的1303件个人物品,拍卖前的估价约为500万美元,而最后的总收益达到将近3450万美元。

肯尼迪的女儿在(拍卖物品)目录册的前言部分写道:“自从我母亲1994年去世之后,我和哥哥就面临着如何处理她的私人财产的任务。经过慎重的考虑,我们在1996年卖掉了其中的一些物品。”

“在其间的几年中,我哥哥又去世了,我发现自己再次拥有了太多的房屋和财产,而我一个人根本享用不了这么多。”

(中国日报网站译)

Vocabulary:

effect : 动产,(家庭)财物

Chippendale: of or relating to an 18th-century English style of furniture characterized by flowing lines and often rococo ornamentation.)齐本德尔式的(家具),一种18世纪流行于英国的家具样式,特征为优美的外廓并常有华丽的装饰)

secretary: a desk with a small bookcase on top(写字台上面放有书架的写字桌)

mundane: relating to, characteristic of, or concerned with commonplaces; ordinary(寻常的,普通的)

 
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