Greta Garbo's Effects Auctioned off with a Capital G

Well, an icon of film Greta Garbo's auction just came to a close at Julien's auction house in California. The auction house often handles the personal effects of celebrities, but none more famous than miss Garbo. Her films and photographs during her golden age in the 20s and 30s remain spectacular. She lived a long live and even today her legend continues on and the prices the pieces fetched really cemented that fact.  In truth Greta will never be "Left alone", she was well frankley too fabulous.  The image below provided by the Julien's catalogue which said;

"A portrait of Greta Garbo in The Single Standard (MGM, 1929) by Ruth Harriet Louise. Vintage gelatin silver print on double-weight matte paper. Photographer's blind stamp lower right, photographer and MGM credit stamp on verso.

13 by 10 inches". Sold for 1,024.

 

Portrait of Greta Garbo in The Single Standard (MGM, 1929) by Ruth Harriet Louise. Vintage gelatin silver print on double-weight matte paper. 

What I learned from watching the auction today and yesterday was -Number one there is a buyer for items with big G's on them. I loved those accessories as well....so GARBO.  Her iconic stamp on them appealed to the bidders. Also a nice coincidence that the big G also graces many Gucci items!  She had a few such items from Gucci. Number two is that Garbo and the bidders were serious about shoes. They fetched very high prices and she had an extensive collection. Number three, she LOVED the color turquoise...Something we have in common!

Today and yesterday's items included Louis Vuitton, Pucci, Gucci, lesser as well as other known designers. Many of the pieces were featured in the book Greta Garbo: The Mystery of Style edited by Stefania Ricci (Milan: Skira, 2010). This was a sale that appealed to fashion collectors, movie collectors and fans.  I fully expect to see some pieces in high end vintage stores tomorrow for much high prices. I myself thought of bidding but knew I would keep whatever item I won and held back!  Although the list of what I could afford was about a handful of things that reached from 200-2000 a splurge but nothing compared to some of the hammer prices. Many of which were over 8 times the original estimate.  

The auction seemed to encompass her later vintage attire from the 50s-70s. In my heart however; I know the family or someone retains much of her earlier clothing and jewelry. The 20s skirt, if I am not mistaken, was the oldest piece. Either they have them or these items were not preserved. I assume however there are some spectacular early Garbo items in a vault somewhere!

You can view the full catalogue from today's auction here.

My favorites from the auction- I would have loved to have purchased the 1920s skirt and for its relationship to film and age the price was actually not bad at 1,600.  See the Julien Catalogue above for final hammer prices:

Image and description from Julien's catalogue: "A striped skirt believed to have been purchased in Istanbul in 1924 while Greta Garbo was in Turkey for an attempted but unmade film, "The Odalesque from Smyrna." The skirt is in bands of color, each formed into a knife pleat. At the front center stripe is an embroidered image with arabesque motifs" 

Image and description from Julien's auction house: "A pink cone shaped hat with textured net overlay. The net overlay has darker pink felt polka dots embedded in the fabric. Known by the family to have been made by Valentina for a privately staged production in which Garbo played a clown with friends in the 1950s. 

Previously exhibited Museum of the City of New York, Valentina : American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity , February 14, 2009 through May 17, 2009"

Image from Julien's Catalogue-Louis Vuitton steamer used for her shoe collection during travel. Appears in the book Greta Garbo: The Mystery of Style edited by Stefania Ricci (Milan: Skira, 2010) and previously exhibited: Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, Greta Garbo: The Mystery of Style , February through September 2010. 

1890s Glazed Vase from Garbo's home. Image by Julien's Auction house.

Gucci bag owned by Garbo. Image by Julien's Auction house.

1970s dress worn by Garbo, I love this, its so wearable and stylish. No label.  

In the book Greta Garbo: The Mystery of Style edited by Stefania Ricci (Milan: Skira, 2010) and previously exhibited: Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, Greta Garbo: The Mystery of Style , February through September 2010. Image by Julien's Auction house.