Kennedy property to be auctioned

More than 700 pieces of furniture, jewellery and bric-a-brac from the Kennedy family’s homes went on display at Sotheby’s in New York in preparation for the second sale of property from the estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Sotheby’s is estimating the February 15-17 sale will bring in about $1m (€1.4m). Some lots have pre-sale estimates below €160, but prices could increase sharply as they did in 1996, when a humidor given to US president John F Kennedy by Milton Berle sold for €460,000 and a silver tape measure for €39,000.

The 1996 Kennedy auction brought in €27.6m, including €1.9m for an engagement ring from Aristotle Onassis.

This year’s sale includes items from the Kennedy and Onassis homes in New York City; Hyannis Port, Massachusetts; Martha’s Vineyard; Peapack, New Jersey; and Middleburg, Virginia, as well as furniture from the private family quarters of the White House.

An 11th-century Khmer sandstone sculpture carries a pre-sale estimate of €32,000 to €48,000.

The property was consigned by Caroline Kennedy, who wrote in an introduction to the catalogue that she has given everything of historical significance to the John F Kennedy Library Foundation and kept the things that meant the most to her family. She said a portion of the auction proceeds will go to the library foundation and other charities.