Yesterday, Wright Auctions’s Richard Wright held forth for a the entire day as he auctioned off the historic furnishings and tableware of the landmarked restaurant.
The sale totaled more than three times the initial estimate to make $4.1m.
Here’s Bloomberg’s James Tarmy with some of the giddy prices paid for a piece of history:
The auction began at 10 a.m. amid a sense of giddy euphoria that never quite subsided. The first lot—the Four Seasons sign designed by Emil Antonucci, replete with its four modernist trees—carried a high estimate of $7,000. It eventually hammered for $96,000. While that price—almost 1,300 percent above expectations—was spectacular, some smaller lots almost matched it in relative terms. Four ashtrays with the Four Seasons logo sold for $10,000 above a high estimate of $700—almost 1,400 percent above estimate. A curved banquette and table 35 from the Grill Room carried a high estimate of $5,000 and sold for $50,000—900 percent. Banquette 74 from the Pool Room had an estimate of $1,500 and sold for $12,000—700 percent. (Prices in this article are for the hammer price; successful bidders will also pay a buyer’s premium of 25 percent.)
The Four Seasons Restaurant Auction Totaled $4.1 Million (Bloomberg)
