A Feb. 23 auction of approximately 200 items from the late legendary performer Lena Horne’s New York estate raked in $316,000, more than double the original estimates.
Doyle New York auction house sold the items which once graced the singer’s elegant home on Manhattan’s upper east side. Among the loftiest prices was the winning bid for an abstract painting by Black muralist Charles Alston that sold for $20,000.
Other luxurious pieces included gowns, costume jewelry, memorabilia, books, photographs and European-style furnishings.
Several pieces fetching bids surpassing pre-sale estimates included a Louis Vuitton trunk bearing Lena Horne’s name that was expected to sell $500-$700 but sold for $20,000, a leather vanity case with her engraved initials that sold for $6,250 despite estimates of no more than $400 and a sequined sweater thought to be worth $100-200 that sold for $1,125.
Further, a Giorgio di Sant’Angelo-made reversible mink overcoat sold for more than $7,600 above its asking price, and a Chanel choker with gold-tone metal links and faux baroque pearls was sold for $1,000 more than pre-sale appraisals.
“She was a citizen of the world and there are so many parts of her exhibited by her wardrobe,” Louis Webre, a representative of the auction house, said at a private auction preview.
Horne, a civil rights activist, singer, actress and dancer, died last May at age 92.