Own a piece of Pickfair

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After the Pickfair estate was sold to Pia Zadora, all of the mansion’s contents were placed into storage. And now, almost everything is coming out of mothballs, being dusted off and sold at auction. Mary Pickford, who lived at the estate with actor Douglas Fairbanks, was one of the founders of the Academy Awards and the United Artists studio.

The old Trader Vic’s at the Beverly Hilton Hotel will be set up like a museum beginning on Monday and opened to the public through Friday; the auction is being held by Julien’s Auctions on Nov. 22 and Nov. 23.

The Pickfair sale features some pretty exotic items, including a partial Capo Di Monte Napoleon à Josephine dinnerware service (estimated value: $8,000-$10,000), a pair of Chinese carved rhinoceros tusks (estimated value: $6,000-$8,000), and a silver lotus form covered urn that was a gift to Pickford from the King of Siam (estimated value $1,000-2,000). A fine art collection is also being auctioned off, as are some personal effects that once belonged to ‘America’s Sweetheart’ -- including a 14-carat yellow gold bracelet with five charms (estimated value: $1,500-$2,000). The catalog may be viewed online.

For armchair shoppers, Auction Network will conduct a live, high-definition streaming webcast of the event.

-- Ann Brenoff

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