O
This isn’t the first time Oprah has sold her personal items, seems she took to heart the cover on her namesake O Magazine a few years back that heralded, “De-Clutter Your Life!”
In a recent O Magazine article, Oprah says, “I am evolving [and] my taste is too”. She said that “the gilded mirrors, marble urns, the lavish carpets and sherbet palette – it was all very grand, but it wasn’t very true to myself,” Concluding, “the thing that had been missing from all the beautiful places I’d ever lived in, was me!”
Originally decorated by the late decorator Anthony P. Browne, a onetime rock-and-roll manager turned interior designer, O has passed the baton to west coast based Rose Tarlow to restyle. Tarlow commented that the houses contents don’t “have anything to do with” the mogul. Well, we can’t wait to see what you do with the place, Rose.
"All I can tell you is that I'm evolving, my taste is, too, and someday soon this room will represent the person I've become."
On Friday night the members of the Santa Barbara Polo Club were invited to a VIP party to view the “collection” As we waited for the valet to take our car, a shiny black Cadillac Escalade cut line and sped past us, only to be waived through by the head valet.
“Oprah’s here”, I joked with my car mates.
“I didn’t know she was going to be here”, responded
my wife
“Hummm…” I thought, Will be fun to see the old girl.
Our group was met by roving waiters serving
champagne and hors d'oeuvres, our friend Erin Graffy was on stage as the emcee
and Oprah had already made her entrance and was besieged by guests armed with
iPhones snapping pictures left and right. I couldn’t resist and whipped out my
iPhone and snapped a picture, only to realize that Oprah was snapping a picture
of me snapping one of her! LOL.
Oprah was then summoned to the stage by the emcee where she shared with the guests her vision for her School of Leadership in Africa, how the girls were selected, a little bit about where and how the girls lived before coming to the academy.
She shared some anecdotes about being “Mama O” to over
100 girls. She said that she’s gone from a mom figure to a “consultant”. She gives, “advice when they ask for it, which they
don’t take…” any parent with teenagers could finish the sentence!
She welcomed to the stage the young lady who had
been standing next to her during the performance.The girl, a graduate of the
Leadership School in Africa, is now a student at Stanford. Oprah said she had
gotten a call that afternoon from her and that she asked if she could, “come
home for the weekend”, and a short while later, she was here. Though Oprah didn’t mention it, I was
thinking it must be nice to have a private jet. Of course I have to show you a
picture of the jet since it often sits at the Santa Barbara Airport, and while
I was looking for a picture on the internet I saw a story where Oprah herself
said, “It’s good to have a private jet”, when she addressed Duke University
graduates back in 2009.
Oprah’s ride is a $42 million custom-build Global
Express XRS built by Bombardier Aerospace, (Call letters N54SL)
After we heard the announcement that “Oprah has left
the grounds”, we headed over to the tents holding the Oprah Collection.
There were so many sofas and chairs by the British
furniture maker George Smith it could make one wonder just how comfortable
could they be?
There was a pair of huge green velvet sofas, each
158 inches long (that’s 13 feet), and a matching set of four oversized English
arm chairs and ottomans that came from Oprah’s media room. The sofas ended up
selling for $8000, a bargain if you were in the market for two 26 ft. of sofas!
At the beginning of Saturday’s auction, Oprah took
the stage again and actually auctioned off the first few lots all the while
joking and playing with the bidders, with close friend Gail King in the first
row cheering her on. She denied that the colorful ceramic parrots in one of the
tents were hers, chiding one bidder for paying too much, and pulling one item,
a doll, off the market while it was being bid on.
She told the crowd: “We have 76-77 girls graduating and going to college every year. If anyone has ever put a child thru college, then you know why I’m selling the sofa”
One of the first lots to be sold at Saturday
mornings auction was a pair of canvas banners promoting Oprah’s film, The Color
Purple, which sold for $4100 and $6000 (Pre-auction estimates was $1000-$2000).
After they sold, Oprah signed them for the purchasers, thereby helping ensure
there future value.
The auction was all over the place with bidders
paying thousands of dollars for autographed pictures
of Oprah, often exceeding
auction house estimates by ten times, while valuable antiques sometimes
achieved a mere fraction of their pre-auction estimates. Of courses there were
those items that were true antique with provenance that sold at, or well above
the auction estimates, including a set of 6 French chairs.
Above: But, a beautiful 18th Century Louis XVI paint cabinet with a pre-auction estimated of $15,000-$25,000, sold for just $8,500.
One of the biggest surprises was the sale of a painting by M. Burroughs, titled Cubist Women, which was inscribed “To Miss Oprah Winfrey Herself”. This painting had pre-auction estimates of $200-$400, but sold for $13,000.
A pair of Silver Candelabra’s, estimated to sell at
between $3,000-4,000 sold for $8,000, while a Pair of 19th Century French Candelabra’s
with doré bronze mounts, and sold for just $3,000 with a pre-auction estimate
of $7,000-9,000.
Above: An 18th Century Louis XVI bureau, stamped Boudin, ormolu mounted and inlaid with kingwood and tulipwood, was estimated at $30,000-50,000, sold for just $21,000.
An “Enlarged photograph of Oprah Winfrey”, mounted on foam core, autographed, and estimated at $350-$450, sold for $1,200… on foam core, not even framed!
A “Portrait” (photograph) of Oprah Winfrey, (a copy of) the original photograph produced for the book, The Autobiography of Oprah Winfrey, had a pre-auction estimate of $300-$500, and sold for $1,500.
TV Guide Cover from 1987, print, depicting Oprah
Winfrey, stamped Triangle Publishing 1987, autographed by Oprah Winfrey. Estimated
to sell for $200- $400, sold for $3,000.
Note: Prices above do not include the Buyer's Premium
(commission to the auction house paid on top of the winning bid) of 20% for
those in attendance and 23% for those bidding on the internet.
At the end of a very long day, over 500 lots were auctioned,
one of which I bought. I won (bought) a 19th Century English
cabinet, and true to form, with a pre-auction estimate of $250-$300, I paid
$700! LOL
Thank you Oprah for a great weekend!