London auction of Versace estate beats expectations (2nd Roundup)

London - The auction of private belongings of late Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace exceeded all expectations in London Wednesday as sculptures, chandeliers, paintings and furniture were snapped up at prices 10 times the pre-sale estimates, Sotheby's said. The prize piece at the auction, a pair of life-size casts of Antonio Canova's wrestlers in plaster, which dominated Versace's private bedroom, sold for 433,250 pounds (607,373 dollars), compared with its pre-sale upper estimate of 40,000 pounds, Sotheby's said. By early evening, and hours before the auction was due to close, celebrity-loving buyers had splashed out well in excess of 6 million pounds, results showed. Sotheby's had given an estimate of 2 million pounds for the more than 500 lots from the spectacular neo-classical interior of Versace's Villa Fontanelle on Lake Como in northern Italy. They included furniture, paintings, silver, china and marble busts which decorated the villa in Moltrasio, a venue linked to the glamour of weekend parties attended by celebrities including the late Princess Diana, Sting and Elton John. Versace, who was shot dead in Miami in 1997, owned several homes, but used the villa near Milan to relax. Among other highlights of the sale were a pair of Italian cherry wood and bronze-mounted breakfront book cases by Karl Roos, which fetched just over a million pounds, compared with pre-sale high estimates of 220,000 pounds. Formerly housed in Versace's bedroom, the bookcases were originally commissioned by Princess Pauline Borghese, the sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, for the library at Palazzo Borghese in Rome in 1814. A spectacular 19th century gilt-and-bronze chandelier was sold for 47,000 pound, fetching more than twice the estimate of 20,000 pounds, the auction house said. A Venetian double wall mirror of etched glass was sold well above its estimate for 43,000 pounds, while a staggering 97,250 pounds were paid for a set of British-made roundels depicting classical figures, exceeding its estimate of a maximum of 20,000 pounds by nearly five times. Marble busts of Roman emperors, a bronze statue of Napoleon, walnut tables and mahogany chairs were among the items snapped up by buyers keen to be associated with the world of fashion. Dozens of small oil paintings were also sold, but a painting by German-born 18th century artist Johann Zoffany, billed as the star lot, was withdrawn from the sale. Press reports said descendants of Major George Maule, the British officer depicted in the painting, had contacted the authorities claiming that it had been stolen 30 years ago - 15 years before Versace bought it.