Auctions: Cher's Gothic taste revealed in house sale

Sotheby's and Julien's Auctions are to offer property from the Malibu home of Cher.

By MEIR RONNEN
chers bedroom 88 298 (photo credit: )
chers bedroom 88 298
(photo credit: )
Sotheby's and Julien's Auctions are to offer property from the Malibu home of Cher, the international star, in a two-day auction at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on October 3-4. More than 700 lots of paintings, furniture and decorative works of art will be included from Cher's Italian Renaissance-style residence, which is to be sold. Among the lots are jewelry, memorabilia and stage-worn costumes from television, live concerts and special personal appearances. The sale is expected to bring in excess of $1m. and a portion of the proceeds will benefit The Cher Charitable Foundation, which aids such exotic organizations as The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, Operation Helmet and The World Craniofacial Foundation. Among the highlights of the more than 400 lots of fine and decorative arts in the sale is The Scarisbrick Hall Bed, a fine Gothic Revival brass bed, circa 1865, attributed to Pugin and manufactured by John Hardman & Co., Birmingham ($20,000/$30,000). Other pieces include a Gothic Revival gilt and polychrome-decorated frame, circa 1840, designed by Pugin for the de Lisle family's chapel at Grace Dieu ($5,000/$7,000); an early Victorian Gothic Revival oak reading table, in the manner of Pugin, circa 1845 ($3,000/$5,000); and a pair of Gothic Revival painted brass chandeliers, in the manner of Pugin, manufactured by John Hardman & Co., which were used by Cher in her dining room (est. $6,000/$8,000). Among the other furniture highlights are a fine pair of late Regency Gothic Revival oak side tables, circa 1830, in the manner of Gillows ($10,000/$15,000) and a Gothic Revival carved white and colored marble balustrade fragment, 19th century, from the Collection of William Randolph Hearst ($2,000/$3,000). Among the books from Cher's library being sold are a folio of drawings for "Examples of Gothic Architecture," volume II, by Augustus Welby Pugin ($8,000/$12,000). Cher's Gothic interiors feature European works of art throughout, including two polychrome decorated carved limestone keystones, Spanish, circa 1500, formerly in the collection of William Randolph Hearst and later in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art ($5,000/$7,000 each), a North Italian terracotta figure of Christ, 16th century ($2,000/$3,000), and a Russian icon, the Vladimir Mother of God, 19th century ($3,000/$5,000). Other decorative works of art complementing the Gothic aesthetic are a Tiffany Studios bronze and favrile glass hanging lantern, circa 1910 ($10,00/$15,000) and a Lalique "Serpent" molded deep amber glass vase ($15,000/$25,000). A number of Old Master and 19th-century paintings will highlight the sale, including a painting by Ercole Procaccini the Younger, Milan 1596-1676, The Holy Family Served by Angels ($30,000/$50,000); Manner of Simone Pignoni, Judith with the Head of Holofernes ($6,000/$8,000); Victor John Robertson, Penelope and the Suitors ($10,000/$15,000); and Sebastiano Novelli, Othello ($6,000/$8,000).