(Bloomberg News) A bronze figure of a six-headed Tibetan deity that belonged to Brooke Astor and was expected to sell for $2,500 to $3,500 went for $134,500 yesterday at Sotheby's.
"I was going to bid on it, but it went through the roof," said Philip Marshall, Astor's grandson, as a two-day auction of the New York philanthropist's property got under way. "It's her provenance."
The items come from Astor's former Park Avenue duplex and Westchester mansion, Holly Hill. The proceeds will benefit her favorite charities, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, the Animal Medical Center and New York schools. Astor died in 2007 at the age of 105.
The auction house estimated that the 901 lots would tally between $6.6 million and $9.7 million. Sales reached $6.7 million by the end of the first of four parts.
The top lot yesterday was "A Memlook Bey, Egypt," an 1868 oil on panel by John Frederick Lewis, which fetched $1.6 million, more than three times its high estimate of $500,000.
The prices include the buyer's premium; the estimates do not.
A drawing by Giovanni Antoni Canal, known as Canaletto, sold for $1.2 million, surging past its presale estimate range of $300,000 to $500,000.
"The Deer and the Lady, with Punchinello" by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo brought $722,500, also surpassing its high estimate.
Bargains Fade
Items that seemed like bargains before the sale quickly rose in price. A giltwood box shaped as a pile of logs was estimated between $200 and $400; it sold for $21,250. A small ivory elephant adorned with rubies, emeralds and gold fetched $68,500, more than 10 times its low estimate.