Auction offers pieces of historic Waldorf Astoria

IF YOU have ever wanted to sleep in the faux shagreen bed from the Elizabeth Taylor Suite or rest a flute of champagne on the gold-painted table adorning the Marilyn Monroe Suite at the Waldorf Astoria New York, you still can.

The historic Park Avenue hotel has been temporarily closed for renovations since 2017, and until Saturday, it will be auctioning off its furnishings. With a winning bid, you can turn your home into the Waldorf-astoria-your-surname.

Kaminski Auctions is handling the colossal sale, which features 15000 lots, including some with multiple items. The furnishings filled nearly every public and private space in the hotel: the celebrity suites, guest rooms, lobby, bars, restaurants and fitness centre.

The first day of live bidding alone put nearly 700 objects on the auction block. (All proceeds will go to St Bartholomew’s Conservancy.)

“It is overwhelming,” said

Stuart Whitehurst, an independent appraiser and antiques consultant who appears on PBS’S Antiques Roadshow. “This sale is a marathon, not a sprint.”

The Waldorf Astoria, which has lived at its current address since

1931, plans to reopen in 2022 with a more modern look for its 375 condominium residences and 375 hotel rooms. To make way for the new, it’s getting rid of the old, with a few priceless exceptions, like John F Kennedy’s rocking chair, a clock from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and Cole Porter’s personal piano.

(During the renovation, the chair and clock will reside with the Newyork Historical Society.)

By comparison, the objects for sale are more standard-issue hotel furnishings that have been elevated by nostalgia for the golden age of hospitality and its glittery clientele.

“Although the Waldorf Astoria is an art deco landmark known for its opulent lobby and public rooms and for its famous guests, including many US presidents, its interior fittings are not considered particularly noteworthy by design experts,” said Anthony Barzilay Freund, editorial director and director of fine art at 1stdibs, the e-commerce site.

“That said, there is intrinsic value in living with furniture that has a compelling narrative, and you can’t put a price tag on that.”

But you can put a bid on it.

If you are new to the auction game or are gobsmacked by the sheer quantity, Whitehurst offered some tips on navigating the sale like a paddle pro. First, he recommended skipping the first few days of the auction, which are loaded with items from the celebrity suites.

Although there is no guarantee that Monroe bathed in the light of the Chinese lamps in her namesake suite or General Douglas Macarthur tossed his garbage in the wooden trash cans, the real or imagined brush with fame will cause the prices to rise exponentially.

For example, the day before the live auction, the current bid for two embroidered pug pillows from the Royal Suite was listed at $610 (about R10000), six times more than the high estimate. The bid for three framed photos of Elizabeth Taylor was double the $300 estimate.

And I would love to meet the person who is willing to pay $385 for a print of a single shoe that hung in the Monroe suite and had a starting bid of $5. Maybe he or she is looking to complete a pair?

By comparison, many objects from later this week still have no bidders. Among them: a blue-andred-striped French carved chair, a Regency-style upholstered bench and an elliptical machine.

“Swoop in later in the auction,” Whitehurst said.

Some of the larger pieces (a baby grand piano) or ones with flaws (a Federal-style mahogany dining room table with water damage) are less competitive. “It’s hard to buy a piano on a whim,” he said. But before you place a bid, make sure you have room in your house to fit the elephantine item or furniture repair skills. | The Washington Post