Sotheby's

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It Could Be One of the Priciest Postal Items Ever Auctioned

May 1840 envelope was mailed twice before world's first known prepaid postage stamp was considered valid

(Newser) - Calling all deep-pocketed stamp collectors: The earliest known example of a posted envelope using a prepaid stamp is heading to auction, where it's expected to fetch between $1.5 million and $2.5 million, a great deal more than it originally cost to send. The envelope carries the Penny...

Messi Auction Misses Record
Messi Auction Misses Record

Messi Auction Misses Record

Half-dozen World Cup jerseys bring $7.8M

(Newser) - Six jerseys worn by soccer superstar Lionel Messi during Argentina's winning run at last year's World Cup sold Thursday for $7.8 million, Sotheby's announced. The final price for the shirts, each worn during the first half of one of Argentina's games at the 2022 FIFA...

It Could Be the Priciest Sports Memorabilia Collection Ever Sold

Sotheby's to auction 6 shirts worn by Lionel Messi in winning World Cup run

(Newser) - Sotheby's is to auction six shirts worn by Lionel Messi during Argentina's winning run at last year's soccer World Cup in Qatar and thinks they could become the most valuable collection of sports memorabilia ever sold at potentially more than $10 million. The auction house said Monday...

This Bottle Just Sold for $2.7M
This Bottle Just Sold for $2.7M

This Bottle Just Sold for $2.7M

Macallan Adami 1926 whisky, of which there were only 40, far outreaches estimates

(Newser) - A bottle of Scotch whisky billed as "the most sought-after" in the world sold Saturday for almost $2.7 million, an auction record for a bottle of wine or spirits—and far above initial estimates of up to $1.5 million . The Macallan Adami 1926 sold at Sotheby's in...

Rare Whisky Up for Auction Is Pretty Pricey

Sotheby's estimates the bottle can fetch up to $1.5M

(Newser) - There are only 40 bottles of the Macallan Adami 1926, a Scotch whisky that spent 60 years aging in sherry casks, and someone is about to be the lucky owner of one of them. Per the Drink Business , Sotheby's has one of the rare bottles up for auction , and...

This Pricey Piano Produced Some Giant Hits

Freddie Mercury's baby grand sells for $2M at auction

(Newser) - The piano Freddie Mercury used to compose "Bohemian Rhapsody" and other hits by Queen has sold for more than $2 million at auction in the UK. Also of note: A Victorian-style silver snake bangle Mercury wore in a video for the song—long before the days of MTV—set...

This Car Sold for Nearly $2M, but It Needs Some Work

It's the burnt-out shell of a 1954 Ferrari

(Newser) - That somebody snapped up an extremely rare Ferrari for nearly $2 million at an auction is maybe not too surprising. That the Ferrari in question is more of a burnt-out shell of a car than an actual car is the more unusual part. Jalopnik reports that an unnamed buyer shelled...

After Bidding War, Klimt Painting Sets Europe Auction Record

It sold for $108.4M, shattering presale estimates

(Newser) - A late-life masterpiece by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt sold Tuesday for $108.4 million, making it the most expensive artwork ever auctioned in Europe, the AP reports. "Dame mit Fächer"—Lady with a Fan—sold to a buyer in the room at Sotheby's in London after...

Misidentified Painting Sold for $40K Could Now Fetch $8M

Sotheby's to sell original work by old master Peter Paul Rubens, featuring St. Sebastian

(Newser) - A painting that sold at auction for $40,000 in 2008 is expected to fetch at least $5 million when it goes under the hammer next month—and you can't entirely blame inflation. Last time around, St. Sebastian Tended by Two Angels was attributed to the French Baroque painter...

Freddie Mercury's Heir Decides to Sell His Treasures

Sotheby's to auction original lyrics to 'We Are the Champions,' stage costumes, and more

(Newser) - Freddie Mercury's heir is giving up his treasures. Mary Austin, a close friend of Mercury's who inherited his London home and much of his wealth upon his 1991 death, is selling some 1,500 items tied to the late Queen frontman as part of a Sotheby's auction...

Michael Jordan's 'Last Dance' Sneakers Shatter Auction Record

They sold for $2.2M Tuesday

(Newser) - An iconic pair of Michael Jordan sneakers has set a new record for athletic shoes sold at auction. The Air Jordan XIII Breds, worn by Jordan during Game 2 of the 1998 NBA Finals, sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $2,238,000 Tuesday, Sports Illustrated reports. The previous...

Someone Spent $25.3M for This 'Highly Important' Bowl

Chinese antique sold in Sotheby's auction

(Newser) - The bowl is pretty and small, and also represents the "peak of painting on porcelain." The Chinese antique also just went for $25.3 million at an auction over the weekend, with an unknown entity scooping up the "highly important" artifact crafted sometime in the mid-18th century,...

Painting Found Covered in Bird Poop in Shed Sells for $3.1M

Anthony Van Dyck's 'A Study for Saint Jerome' was purchased for $600 in 2002

(Newser) - Two decades ago, the painting sat abandoned in a farm shed, covered in bird droppings. It sold Thursday at auction for $3.1 million. The large oil painting , discovered by art collector Albert B. Roberts in the shed in Kinderhook, New York, around 2002, was later confirmed as a work...

Kim Kardashian Wins Bidding War for Pendant Worn by Princess Di

Attallah Cross sells for more than double its pre-auction estimate

(Newser) - In the final five minutes of a Sotheby's auction for the Attallah Cross, four bidders competed to buy the pendant worn by Princess Diana. The winner? Kim Kardashian, whose winning bid of around $200,000 on Wednesday was more than double the pre-auction estimate, the Guardian reports. Luxury jewelry...

Darwin's Origin Defense, With Signature, Goes Up for Bid

Paper was written for a celebrity magazine that reproduced autographs

(Newser) - When Charles Darwin wrote a what-about defense of his theory of evolution in 1865, he made clear that he stood behind his work—he affixed his full signature to the document. A celebrity magazine that reproduced the autographs of famous people had asked for a sample of the biology influencer'...

'Van Sinderen Constitution' Could Sell for $30M

Early copy of founding document up for auction for first time since 1894

(Newser) - A group representing some 17,000 people who tried and failed to buy a rare copy of the US Constitution in a huge crowdfunding effort last year says it's "looking into" the upcoming auction of the only other early copy of the document held in private hands. About...

Long-Lost Rubens to Be Sold
Rubens Could Bring $35M

Rubens Could Bring $35M

Long-lost painting to see with a group of Baroque-era works

(Newser) - A Peter Paul Rubens painting thought to have been lost for more than 200 years will go on auction in New York in January, along with nine other Baroque-era artworks, and could bring as much as $35 million. Sotheby's, which is handling the sale, said the 1609 "Salome...

She Wants Sotheby's to Pay Her Back for Her Chagall

A panel determined it was fake; Stephanie Clegg wants the auction house to pay up

(Newser) - As Stephanie Clegg tells it, Sotheby's led her astray—more than once. In 1994 she purchased a work on paper by Marc Chagall from the auction house for $90,000. In 2008, Sotheby's reappraised "Le couple au bouquet de fleurs" at $100,000. In 2020, as she...

Now's Your Chance to Own a Dinosaur
Now's Your Chance
to Own a Dinosaur

Now's Your Chance to Own a Dinosaur

Sotheby's is auctioning a Gorgosaurus skeleton, but you'll need at least $5M

(Newser) - The fossilized skeleton of a T. rex relative that roamed the earth about 76 million years ago will be auctioned in New York this month, per the AP . The Gorgosaurus skeleton will highlight Sotheby's natural history auction on July 28, the auction house says. The Gorgosaurus was an apex...

Picasso Painted His Lover as a Sea Creature. Now, a Big Sale

The painting fetched $67.5M

(Newser) - Being depicted as a tentacled sea creature by your lover may not sound like the highest compliment. But when that lover is Pablo Picasso, well ... it's a whole other story. Femme nue Couchée, a painting that imagines Marie-Thérèse Walter as a five-limbed sea creature, sold for...

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