Waldorf Astoria hotel to sell off 80,000 items in landmark auction
The lavish interiors of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel have decamped to a giant empty mall near Boston, where they are scheduled to go on sale in a landmark auction beginning Saturday.
The arm chairs and settees in the pale blue that was the favorite color of the Duchess of Windsor, who lived at the hotel with Edward VIII after he abdicated the British throne in 1936, are artfully arranged in an abandoned H&M store. Cole Porter’s dramatic suite is now ensconced in an REI Co-op outdoor store, and former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s New York City stronghold has been set up at Filene’s.
Kaminski Auctions, a Boston-based auction house, is selling off more than 80,000 items spread out over 15,000 lots from the hotel’s golden age as it undergoes a massive $1 billion renovation. The auction house rented the one-million square foot Silver City Galleria mall, south of Boston, to hold the viewings. Previews and online bidding for “Fine Furnishings of the Historic Waldorf Astoria New York” begin Saturday.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime event,” said auction house CEO Frank Kaminski, adding that his company has worked for the last several months cataloguing all of the items which were dispatched in 88 tractor trailers from the hotel to the mall. The trucks were loaded with chandeliers, grand pianos, 19th century French furniture as well as wall sconces and other decor from the hotel’s most storied suites, restaurants and bars, he told The Post.
All proceeds from the auction will go to St. Bartholomew’s Conservancy to support the renovation of the exteriors and gardens of St. Bartholomew’s Church and Community House, a neighborhood landmark across the street from the Waldorf Astoria, the hotel’s developer said in a statement.
The Cole Porter Suite
The composer lived in his sprawling suite from 1934 until his death in 1964. Porter composed some of his most famous songs in the 6,000-square-foot apartment, including “You’re the Top,” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” on a Steinway grand piano that was given to him by hotel management.
One of the most distinctive rooms in Porter’s apartment is the library designed by interior designer Billy Baldwin, who famously covered the walls with tortoise-shell vinyl in 1955. The brass tube bookshelves were also a distinctive feature. One of the shelves is estimated at $1,200 to $1,500.
In other rooms, Porter imported antique parquet flooring from a chateau in France as well as oriental rugs. Venetian silk pillows in oranges and reds that adorned the suite are estimated at $80 to $100 each. An oil portrait of George Washington on horseback by an unknown artist that Porter had on prominent display is estimated between $500 to $1,500. A serpentine French marble cabinet with hand-painted porcelain plaques from the reception hall is priced between $2,500 to $3,500.
Porter’s Steinway piano is currently being restored and will go on display at the hotel as one of its most precious historic objects.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor Suite
After Edward VIII abdicated the British throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, the couple began spending the fall social season in New York, beginning in 1941.
They occupied the hotel’s royal suite on the 42nd floor, but were forced to decamp to another apartment when Edward’s estranged niece, Queen Elizabeth II, arrived for her first state visit to the US in 1957. As a consolation to Simpson, hotel management offered to re-upholster the furniture and paint the apartment in her favorite shade of pale blue.
The auction features Charles X black lacquered wood-and-gilt benches upholstered in what came to be known as “Wallis Blue” fabric that adorned the suite’s reception area, beginning at $1,000 for the pair. A porcelain 13-piece tea-set, designed by the Royal Porcelain Factory (known in German as KPM) in Berlin, is estimated at between $800 and $1,200. Needlepoint pug pillows featuring portraits of their favorite dogs are going between $100 and $200 each.
The Winston Churchill Suite
The former British Prime Minister stayed in the wood-paneled suite on the hotel’s 39th floor on his visits to the US in the 1930s and after World War II.
Among the most interesting items at auction are black-and-white framed photographs of Churchill in his old soldier’s uniform at formal dinners from 1950 to 1953. The pictures, taken by a host of hotel staff photographers, are estimated between $200 and $300 each.
The door to the suite itself is also for sale, featuring a plaque with Churchill’s name on it. The estimate is between $300 to $500. A 19-by-12 foot handmade Wilton carpet from the former prime minister’s study is estimated at between $2,500 to $3,500, and carved mahogany Georgian chairs covered in striped silk are estimated between $400 and $600. A 19th century bronze sculpture of Poseidon, which had pride of place in the suite, is estimated at $1,500 to $2,500, and a Baccarat crystal chandelier is estimated at between $2,500 to $3,500.