Gianni Versace items sold
March 19th, 2009 - 1:12 pm ICT by Amrit RashmisrisethiOn Wednesday, fashion designer Gianni Versace’s opulent villa on the shores of Italy’s Lake Como sold for more than seven million pounds, Sotheby’s auction house told.
Over 12 hours of heated bidding, the 545 lots from Villa Fontanelle outside Milan sold for a total of 7,411,919 pounds - double the pre-sale high estimate of up to 2.8 million pounds.
The biggest sale of the day was for the exceptional pair of Italian cherry wood bookcases from Versace’s bedroom, which sold for 481,250 and 601,250 pounds respectively - more than four times their pre-sale high estimates.
Two huge statues of naked Greek boxers Creugas and Damoxenos, plaster copies of Antonio Canova’s Pugilists which also adorned the bedroom, sold for 433,250 pounds, more than ten times the top estimate of 40,000 pounds.
Villa Fontanelle was said to be the favourite home of the designer, who was shot dead in Miami in 1997. He described it as ‘the house that really belongs to me, reflecting a mirror image of all that I am, for better or worse.’ Located 50km from Milan, it was used for lavish parties attended by Princess Diana, Madonna, Sting and Elton John.
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