Dozens of potential bidders for 25,000 orphaned treasures from Tavern on the Green were admitted for the first time to the shuttered, bankrupt landmark restaurant in Central Park on Wednesday.
The bidders previewed next week’s 3-day auction of 1,000 lots of items that have been valued in the range of $100 to $1.2 million.
From Dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com:
The preview of the sale — called a nonreserve auction because there was no presale estimate of the prices of individual objects — is expected to attract more than 1,000 visitors and, ultimately, many hundreds of bidders.
Although Mr. Ettinger declined to put a specific value on the offerings, a Sotheby’s appraisal of a portion of the LeRoy inventory a few years ago estimated the value at $8.17 million, including $1.2 million for the leaded-glass ceiling of Maxwell’s Plum that was eventually moved to the Russian Tea Room (both restaurants were owned by Mr. LeRoy) and $300,000 for the antique green-crystal chandelier that is the centerpiece of the Crystal Room.
Although many dealers critically gauged the preview merchandise hoping to resell it, Joanna Figlia, who lives in Manhattan, had a more personal connection: she and her husband, Peter, were married in Tavern on Oct. 18, 1998. “But I see some pieces that would be possible,” she said, for the shelves of her antique store in Huntington, W.Va., Hattie and Nan’s.
Visitors meandered though a cornucopia of Tavern memorabilia during the preview lasting for eight hours.
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