Cherished remainders of philanthropist Brooke Astor’s luxe life on sale for charity
by Luxury.Net
Roberta Brooke Astor was an American philanthropist and socialite who was the chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation, which had been established by her third husband, Vincent Astor, son of John Jacob Astor IV and great-great grandson of America’s first multi-millionaire, John Jacob Astor. She was also a novelist and wrote two volumes of memoirs.
Toward the end of her life Astor suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, and in 2006 she became the subject of a lawsuit alleging elder abuse. Her grandson claimed that Astor’s son, Anthony Dryden Marshall, forced her to sleep on a urine-drenched couch, kept her beloved dogs locked in a separate room, replaced her name-brand face cream with petroleum jelly, and switched her prescriptions to lower-cost generic drugs.
Bejeweled empress of New York philanthropy, socialite Brooke Astor who died at the remarkable age of 105 on August 2007, actually reigned over the society of New York City for decades, and set the standard for civic responsibility, philanthropy and grace. But sadly, after her death, relatives publically battled for over five years over the revered heiress’ $130 million estate, which includes the lavish 14-room duplex on Park Avenue and the Holly Hill estate in Westchester County. The fight was so extensive that it also dragged the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, the New York Public Library, and even the Rockefeller University, among many others. Now, as the 5-year long corrosive fight had been settled, giving her son Anthony Marshal, convicted of stealing millions, his just deserts, and $100 million to various charities, Sotheby’s has announced that it’ll auction about 901 lots of decorative art, fine art, furnishings, and jewelry items of her two elegant homes on September 24 and 25, with the proceeds benefitting her favorite charities, including New York Public Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Animal Medical Center in Manhattan.
You can find Platinum, 18 Karat Gold, Emerald and Diamond Necklace, Bulgari
Year made: 1959
Estimate Price: $250,000 – $350,000
2). Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
Year made: 1727-1804
Estimate: $300,000 – $400,000
