London auction of Versace estate beats expectations (3rd Roundup)

London - An auction of late Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace's private belongings beat all expectations as sculptures, chandeliers, paintings and furniture were bought for a total of 7.4 million pounds (10.39 million dollars), auction house Sotheby's said. The 12-hour sale, which ended late Wednesday, continued a trend set by the auction last month in Paris of the private possessions of late French designer Yves Saint Laurent and showed that investment in art was regarded as a 'safe alternative' by wealthy buyers in the current recession, analysts said. Although not comparable in scale and genuine artistic value with the Saint Laurent auction, which netted a record 262 million dollars, the sale of more than 500 items from Versace's Villa Fontanelle on Lake Como far exceeded its pre-sale estimate of 2 million pounds. 'We are absolutely thrilled with the extraordinary results of today's sale and the high level of lots that achieved prices well above their pre-sale estimates - in some cases 10-fold,' Sotheby's Mario Tavella 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, compared with its pre-sale upper estimate of 40,000 pounds. 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 1 million pounds, compared with pre-sale high estimates of 220,000 pounds. Formerly housed in Versace's bedroom, the bookcases were originally commissioned in 1814 by Princess Pauline Borghese, sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, for the library at Palazzo Borghese in Rome. British art critic Godfrey Barker said the auction confirmed a 'definite trend' showing that 'powerful names that live on in memory add value to items.' The sale underlined a 'very clear global trend' of wealthy buyers diverting their cash from banks and equities into art. The items sold included furniture, paintings, silver, china and marble busts, which decorated the Versace villa in Moltrasio, a venue linked to the glamour of weekend parties attended by celebrities including the late Princess Diana and musicians Sting and Elton John. Versace, who was shot to death in 1997 in Miami, owned several homes but used the villa near Milan to relax. A spectacular 19th century gilt-and-bronze chandelier 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 sold, but a painting by 18th century German-born artist Johann Zoffany, billed as the star lot, was withdrawn from the sale. Press reports said that descendants of Major George Maule, the British officer depicted in the painting, had contacted authorities claiming that it had been stolen 30 years ago - 15 years before Versace bought it.