When we first moved to the loft and found ourselves really
considering what went into designing a great gallery wall along a staircase,
there was one example we returned to time and again…
Brooke Astor’s famous collection of dog paintings seen above and below marching up the elegant floating staircase of her country estate Holly Hilly overlooking the Hudson River, before being auctioned September 24th
and 25th at Sotheby’s along with the rest of Mrs. Astor’s estate in
a media frenzied sale that more than doubled high estimates and totaled nearly
$19 million.
Of course even though it was stretched over two days,
Sotheby’s couldn’t possibly divest the entire contents of both Holly Hilly as
well her Park Avenue duplex decorated by Sister Parrish and Albert Hadley. The
remaining mementos of Mrs. Astor’s privileged life turned up at auction October
5th at Stair Galleries of Hudson, New York in an anonymous sale simply titled
“Property of a Lady”. A close inspection of the contents clearly identified the
anonymous ‘Lady’ as none other than Brooke Astor, and while the sale received
little media attention was written up by must-read style blogger and
Architectural Digest contributor Mitchell Owens on the magazine’s blog.
Anyone with the time and inclination could easily peruse the
catalogue and recognize several pieces from photographed interiors of the
country estate and Park Avenue duplex. For example a quick Google images search
for Brooke Astor’s Holly Hilly will most likely turn up the image of the
curving staircase at the beginning of this post as taken by Sotheby’s. Those
with a keen eye might notice the oval portrait in the lower left corner just
behind the wrought iron railing as similar to one we’ve added to our own
staircase gallery wall above. Those with an especially keen eye might even
recognize the wooden farm basket Mrs. Astor used to hold books under her stairs
as identical to the one seen above under our own far humbler flight.
It is in fact Mrs. Astor’s dog group portrait, or 20th
Century School: “The Hunt Dogs” formerly Lot 251 of Stair Galleries Property of
a Lady sale. While the bulk of Astor’s antique dog paintings went for
nearly a million dollars in the Sotheby’s auction this piece being a newer
reproduction was sent to the anonymous sale where we were delighted to acquire
it at an exceptional price especially given the exceptional provenance.
Legendary philanthropist and socialite Roberta Brooke Russell Kuser Marshall Astor who died in 2007 at the age of 105 was the widow of Vincent Astor, the
last heir to the great Astor fortune who’s father John Jacob Astor IV went down
in history as the richest man to die in the sinking of the Titanic and who’s
grandmother Caroline literally defined American High Society in the Gilded Age.
While Brooke Astor was regarded as the defacto Queen of New
York during her lifetime she was more than a last living bridge to the Gilded
Age, spending half her life giving nearly $200 million of the Astor fortune
back to the city that had created it. Aside from her philanthropic works and
glittering social life Mrs. Astor had an eye for beauty and design working at
House and Garden and as well as a stint with Dorothy Draper before becoming
Mrs. Astor, and in 1982 writing a lovely piece on collecting for Architectural
Digest discussing her dog portraits as well as the illusive subject of taste.
At the end the author ponders her collection hitting the auction block hoping one day they’ll be loved as much as she’s loved them. Brooke Astor clearly loved this charming
pack of pups enough to not only mix with her antique originals but to give such
prominent placement, and we'd gladly assure her they’ve found a very loving
home along with some of her other animal collections, but we’ll have to save those
treasures for a future post.
Click HERE to read the next post on the Astor auction!
Click HERE to read the next post on the Astor auction!
*While “The Hunt Dogs” are not for sale many of the
surrounding art and accessories are available for purchase HERE in our online
boutique Knickerbocker Antiques and Vintage.