James Brown auction falls short of goal

• IBTimes RSS
• Print
• E-Mail
• digg
• Del.icio.us

The auction, which followed months of legal wrangling over Brown's estate involving several children, ex-wives and girlfriends and others, won 11th hour clearance from a South Carolina judge only on Monday, perhaps depressing the total, which had been forecast at between $1 million and $2 million.

Brown's trademark capes often worn during his raucous performances were among two of the sale's top three lots, with David Letterman band director Paul Shaffer successfully bidding Brown's medical bracelet, estimated at $200 to $300, up to $32,500 including commission.

A black satin "James Brown" full length embroidered cape fetched $47,500 and was bought by an unidentified institution, while a red leather furniture set sold for $40,000, or 20 times its high estimate.

Despite the lower-than-expected results, Christie's pop culture specialist Simeon Lipman noted a packed sale room in which "relics from his public and private persona were sought after by collectors as demonstrated by the top selling items, which ranged from his iconic stage-worn capes and instruments, to his living room furniture and a medical ID bracelet."

Among other highlights was a denim jumpsuit, studded with GFOS (Godfather of Soul), which fetched $25,000.

In all 97 percent of the 317 lots on offer found buyers for a total of $857,688.

'SAD DAY'

Several of Brown's children spoke out against the sale of their father's belongings on Thursday, which they conceded was needed to pay the estate's taxes and "put back some of the money that had been siphoned out" since Brown's death, as daughter Yamma Brown put it.

"We were not opposed to an auction per se," she said on the radio show of Rev. Al Sharpton, a close friend of the singer. "We were opposed to all of the items that went," she said. Brown said that a list the children submitted of items they didn't want sold had been ignored. "At the end of the day, everything went."

• 1
• 2