Finis
Estate Sales
By
Christopher Hyland
E
state sales provide interesting opportunities for
viewing the ephemera of lifetimes. They invite favorable
discourse. Yet frequently disparaging remarks about the
contents of estate sales, particularly those of the famous,
abound.
Individuals and the news media are often surprised by what
they perceive to be the seemingly unfocused, cluttered,
varied and/or banal mementoes of a life.
A famous Picasso might be cited as having been hung
prominently in a living room, representing an ingenious
early purchase by its former owner, identifying that collector
as one with great intellectual and aesthetic discernment.
But the rest of the room���s contents are described as
surprisingly decorative, unimportant, kitsch or worse. In
sale after sale, commentators seem at wits��� end to explain
why a great worthy would have a souvenir Inca ceramic, a
recently crafted American Indian headdress, an Austrian
set of country napkins with reindeer or decorative prints
depicting scenes of Egypt. Even expertly crafted and
HYLAND
