Applebrook Sells Off Partial Estate Of American Actress Polly Bergen

NEW MILFORD, CONN. Applebrook Auctions presented a sale comprising about 75 percent of the estate of screen actress and entertainer Polly Bergen on December 5 at the firms new auction location, The Maxx, a club just a two-minute walk down the street from its gallery.

Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin on July 14, 1930) was an American actress, singer, television host, writer and entrepreneur. She died September 20, 2014, of natural causes at her home in Southbury, Conn., surrounded by family and close friends. Borenstein said that the consignment of her estate to his firm came about through mutual friends. The rest of the sale included additions from a clock collector and other local estates.

During preview on the day before the sale, Borenstein was in his office readying for the auction. The Internet is going crazy, he said. Inside the gallery, however, things were much more sedate, with a few visitors examining the fine art, decorative accessories and loads of estate gold and costume jewelry that would be on offer.

As it turned out, the sales top two lots were not once owned by Bergen. An 1863 thank you letter from US President Abraham Lincoln wore the auctions top hat, bringing $12,650 from the trade on the phone, battling with two online bidders. Of the lots modest $400/800 presale estimate in relation to its selling price, Borenstein quipped to the crowd, If you have a letter by Abraham Lincoln, its best you find someone else to appraise it, but bring it to me to sell. On a more serious note, the auctioneer explained that the lower estimate was predicated on the fact that the letter had been written by Lincolns secretary and Lincoln had only signed it. The letter had come from the estate of J. Sinclair Armstrong, a Republican in the Eisenhower administration who served as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission from May 1955 to June 1957.

The second highest selling lot also did not come from the Bergen estate. It was a rare signed Robert Rauschenberg litho titled Signs, which carried a $4/6,000 estimate and realized $6,325, going to the trade.

As for the Bergen material, Borenstein said, There was a lot of interest because of who it belonged to. The crowd [in the hall] was good, the place was filled. There were about 800 registered on two online platforms.

The standout Bergen lot was a handsomely carved Grinling Gibbons Father Time clock, which sold for $5,750. During preview, it was displayed along with a photo of Bergen standing next to it, probably in her Los Angeles, home, according to the auctioneer. An ex-computer guy bought it for himself, said Borenstein.

A Chinese sterling and enamel carriage brought a strong, twice-the-high-estimate price of $4,600, despite missing one of the horses, while a Willem De Kooning Paris Review signed and number litho drew $4,313.

Much of the Bergen material comprised estate and costume jewelry, with an exquisite David Webb 18K gold and diamond necklace going out at $3,450.

Fetching a surprising $2,990 was a pair of French-style chinoiserie end tables that had been discovered in the attic above the garage.

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Applebrook Sells Off Partial Estate Of American Actress Polly Bergen