Passion Investments: Auctions
Star Bids
Dana Micucci
10/01/2004

“Spark the part...spark the person...spark the audience. Strike it! Light it!” Katharine Hepburn once said, describing her acting style. Even after her death in 2003, Hepburn retains the star power to ignite an audience, as the bidding frenzy at Sotheby’s recent auction of property from her estate demonstrated.

KATHARINE HEPBURN’S sculpture of Spencer Tracy sold for $316,000 at auction.
Bidding by telephone, over the Internet and in the crowded sales-room, Hepburn enthusiasts around the world contested 695 lots of furniture, fine art and decorations from her three homes. Bidders clamored not only for clothing, career memorabilia, vintage glamour photos and artwork by Hepburn herself, but even the most mundane items: address books, passports and credit cards. The two-day sale grossed $5.8 million, outstripping its presale estimate of $1 million. The sale’s top lot, a miniature bronze bust of Spencer Tracy sculpted by Hepburn and featured on the set of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?, fetched $316,000 after a lengthy bidding war. Its estimate was $3,000 to $5,000. A diamond and saphhire brooch given to the actress by Howard Hughes sold for $120,000, more than quintuple its estimate. Even other celebrities succumbed to auction fever. Novelist Danielle Steele picked up a group of Hepburn’s black hats for $3,600; they had a presale estimate of $400 to $600. Entertainer Wayne Newton took home the canoe from Hepburn’s film On Golden Pond for $19,200.

“Objects that once belonged to or were affiliated with a celebrity have a magical appeal, allowing a bit of stardust to rub off on us,” professes Leila Dunbar, director of Sotheby’s collectibles department. “For many fans, auctions offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire them.”

People who buy in these sales understand the secret life of objects and their stories.
Passion. Obsession. Addiction. These traits often associated with collecting find their purest—and sometimes most absurd—expression at celebrity auctions. Most celebrity-owned or used objects have little intrinsic value; only their star-quality sends prices soaring. Consider the $1.26 million dropped at Christie’s in 1999 by New York City’s Gotta Have It!, an online auction company and memorabilia dealer, for the svelte evening dress that Marilyn Monroe wore to sing Happy Birthday to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden in 1962. (Monroe’s dress still holds the auction record for a celebrity garment.)

“The demand for celebrity memorabilia is growing,” remarks Robert Schagrin, president of Gotta Have It! “Prices have risen five- to tenfold over the past decade, and will continue to escalate. This market is still in its infancy.” Increased media exposure and the growing use of the Internet as a bidding vehicle will expand the market for these items, he says.

ONE OF the pairs of ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz fetched $666,000 at Christie’s.
Prescient Purchases
Actress Debbie Reynolds claims to have amassed the world’s largest collection of film memorabilia. Industry experts estimate that her thousands of objects (mainly costumes, props and movie posters) are worth as much as $50 million. Her son, Todd Fisher, recalls that when his mother started investing in memorabilia in the early 1970s, people thought she was crazy for buying a bunch of old costumes. Now, that perception has changed. Many items in her assemblage, particularly those belonging to luminaries such as Hepburn and Errol Flynn, have appreciated an average of 20 percent each year, according to Fisher.

Reynolds’ auction trophies include Monroe’s famous subway-grate dress from The Seven-Year Itch, which she purchased for $1,000 in 1972. Fisher estimates it is now worth more than $2 million, based on appraisals by auctioneers and memorabilia experts. Reynolds also prizes a pair of ruby slippers—one of an estimated five pairs used in The Wizard of Oz—that she bought from MGM for $15,000 in 1971. (Another pair of ruby slippers sold for $666,000 at Christie’s in 2000.) Of course, her collection also includes her own mementos, including four dresses she wore in Singin’ in the Rain. Reynolds will soon display a substantial number of her items at her new Hollywood Motion Picture Museum, scheduled to open in April 2005 in the Smokey Mountain town of Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

Memorabilia collectors credit that landmark MGM sale in 1971 as being the genesis of the celebrity auction market. However, Sotheby’s sale of the Andy Warhol collection in the 1980s marked the first time that collectors began to view celebrity memorabilia as investments. The Warhol sale attracted the media to cover celebrity auction prices and sharpened public awareness of the investment potential of these items.

Today, this buzz shows few signs of abating. At Christie’s in June, a host of celebrity-smitten collectors and socialites vied for pieces of the lavish, gilded-age legacy of Doris Duke (1912-1993), the tobacco heiress and globe-trotting philanthropist who was once dubbed the richest girl in the world. A series of auctions comprising Duke’s sumptuous Belle Epoque, Art Deco and Asian-inspired jewelry, her legendary wine cellar and the contents of three residences realized $32.8 million, more than doubling the presale estimate. A Belle Epoque diamond-and-pearl necklace by Cartier, circa 1908, fetched $2.4 million, an auction record for a Cartier diamond necklace. A George II giltwood overmantel mirror by William and John Linnell, circa 1752-1753, considered one of the finest examples of English chinoiserie design, brought $1.6 million, an auction record for a mirror.

SOTHEBY’S AUCTIONED items, including a black jacket by Manuel, from the Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash estate.
“In celebrity auctions it’s unusual to have objects of such fine quality from so many different fields, like we had with the Doris Duke Collection,” says Mark Porter, president of Christie’s. “The intrinsic value of objects that are also works of art—whether they be jewelry, paintings or antiques—is further enhanced by a  celebrity provenance. It’s a powerful combination that makes for the most successful celebrity auctions, driving prices higher than they would be in a general sale. People who buy in these sales understand the secret life of objects and their stories.”

Opportune Timing
Despite this outbreak of bidding wars, experts suggest that we move now to secure our investments in celebrity memorabilia. “To get the best return on value, buy items that are most important to a celebrity’s career, whatever made that person famous,” recommends Darren Julien, head of auction firm Julien Entertainment. “A guitar played by one of the Beatles is one example. A signed Marilyn Monroe contract for her film The Seven-Year Itch is worth more than one of her modeling contracts. Costumes worn in celebrities’ best-known films or at a significant event are more desirable than their everyday clothing.” Collectors also hunger for possessions that are associated with the early years of a celebrity’s career. A George Hurrell photograph of Elizabeth Taylor from the 1950s or 1960s, for example, holds more value than a photo of her by a contemporary photographer. Eric Clapton’s Fender “Blackie,” which he played during his 1970 to 1985 heyday, sold at Christie’s in June for $959,500, a record auction price for a guitar.

But no matter the object, serious collectors demand authenticity. We should always seek documentation, such as a photograph depicting a celebrity wearing a specific outfit, or personal correspondence referring to an object. We can also confirm authenticity through documentation in previous auction catalogs and news articles. As with other collectibles, we must also consider the condition of these items. In the nearly limitless celebrity memorabilia field, experts place more value on an article if it has remained as close as possible to its original state. This factor serves to preserve its historical significance and personal connection to a particular celebrity. For example, a celebrity costume with its original stains and blemishes is more desirable (and more valuable) than a costume that has been dry-cleaned. A scuffed Babe Ruth baseball with a faded signature, or a torn movie poster, is worth less than better-preserved examples. But we should remember that flaws have less negative impact on the value of collectibles that are otherwise highly rare or historically significant.

VALUE JUDGMENT
The magical appeal of enduring luminaries like Katharine Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe drive a quixotic celebrity memorabilia market. Experts advise serious collectors to choose only items that were pivotal in a celebrity’s career, such as a guitar played by a Beatle. Documentation increases the item’s value and is necessary proof of authenticity.
Collectors today are especially enamored of costumes, movie scripts and musical instruments. Although they often appear in generic auctions of collectibles and entertainment memorabilia, these and other celebrity-related objects tend to bring higher prices when they come directly from either the personal collection of the celebrity or his or her estate. These two types of auctions require somewhat different investment strategies. When we bid at an estate auction, we can usually feel confident that the objects are authentic celebrity property. Unfortunately, these sales are often heavily publicized, producing more competition for top lots. Smart collectors will scour an estate collection for sleepers that go unnoticed by celebrity mavens. Conversely, auctions of general collectibles are often not promoted to the same degree as estate auctions, so we may well encounter less competition for highly prized articles. A clever, well-researched buyer can gain an edge during these sales.

Of course, there are certain pop-culture icons whose property will always command a premium. Monroe, Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Ruth are among them. The blue-chip investments of tomorrow, experts say, are current celebrities who have demonstrated staying power. This can entail playing a subjective guessing game, but favorites valued by collectors are the Rolling Stones and Robert DeNiro.

With today’s memorabilia prices already selling at a fever pitch, and tomorrow’s favorites so identifiable, how are we as knowledgeable investors going to secure our favorite lots during a frenzied bidding war? We might take a page from Reynolds’ script. Apparently, the petite collector has developed a winning tactic. “My mother is only 5-feet tall, but she can be a very intimidating bidder,” says Fisher. “If she sees something she really wants, she holds up her paddle continuously. She even leers at her competitors to scare them off.”