Victor Frankenstein Auctioning off His Cabinet of Curiosities?

It’s not too late to become a 19th century mad scientist! A curious auction of Antique Scientific Instruments has caught our eye at one of the largest and oldest auction houses in Europe. The Dorotheum in Vienna going since 1707, holds 600 auctions a year, but this particular event is certainly going to attract some pretty interesting collectors.…

What to Bid on at the Historic Ritz Paris Auction

When they closed the Ritz Paris for a four year renovation in 2012, my mind often went to that place where I imagine I can walk through walls and suddenly, I’m roaming empty hallways and rooms with the ghosts of the city’s most storied hotel. Sometimes I wandered into the secret Ritz warehouse (yes, such…

The Best Pieces up for Auction from Audrey Hepburn’s Personal Collection

I‘ve always been drawn to the less clean-cut screen legends of the past, but there was no way I wasn’t going to have my eye on the Audrey Hepburn sale of the century. To own her Breakfast at Tiffany’s script, a pair of her ballet flats, or just a card from the studio telling her what time…

Found at Auction: The Unseen Photographs of a Legend that Never Was

Picture this: quite possibly the most important street photographer of the 20th century was a 1950s children’s nanny who kept herself to herself and never showed a single one of her photographs to anyone. Decades later in 2007, a Chicago real estate agent and historical hobbyist, John Maloof purchased a box of never-seen, never-developed film negatives…

Take Home a Piece of the Paris Love-Locked Bridges

When the decision was made last year in Paris to remove all those thousands of love locks attached to the city’s bridges, I wondered what would become of them, assuming the worst; a swift disposal, perhaps sent straight to the foundry to be melted down for a pretty penny. Once again however, the city of Paris has surprised…

Seriously though. The Things Children Used to Play With…

I was doing my morning rounds of the online auction sites, looking for an interesting Christmas gift for my Pa, when I ended up being fixated on a sale of unusual vintage toys made between 1850 and 1950. The auction taking place on BidSquare this weekend features some pretty eyebrow-raising playthings, including a wide variety of…

Marilyn Monroe’s Diet Plan, Lipsticks and her Most Intimate Belongings are Up for Auction

You only have to glance at the range of items in the upcoming sale of the largest collection of Marilyn Monroe ephemera ever offered at auction, to see that her fingerprint can still transform the most prosaic of objects more than 50 years after her tragic death. While it wouldn’t be a true Marilyn Monroe auction without her most iconic dresses, diamonds…

The Fashion Institute of Technology is Cleaning out its Closet

The permanent museum collection at the Fashion Institute of Technology currently includes something like 50,000 garments and accessories, dating from the 18th century to the present– and they’re still acquiring new pieces all the time. So just like the rest of us ladies, every now and again, they need to do a little downsizing to refine the…

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Cars For Sale

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me this Mercedes Benz. You don’t need to be a car geek to enjoy browsing through the auction lots of Monterey’s Historic Car Week, the largest automobile show in America, currently underway in California. Among the line-up of rare and iconic vintage rides this year, there are a few not-so-classic classics that really widened my eyes…

Nasa Astronauts and Soviet Cosmonauts are having a Yard Sale

To celebrate the 47th anniversary of the first time man landed on the moon, astronauts, cosmonauts and rocket engineers of the great space race are having a giant yard sale next month– also known as the Bonhams annual Space History Auction. Even if I wasn’t the type of kid that went to space camp and I…