Liberace Glitz to Go on Block : Trinkets Worth Millions to Be Auctioned in April

Although Liberace died almost a year ago, the managers of his estate still believe that the musical showman’s chandeliers, candelabra and knickknacks can continue to light up the lives of his fans.

From an extravagant 19th-Century European crystal table to such gewgaws as a glazed pottery poodle holding a flower basket, the flamboyant pianist’s possessions were previewed for the press Tuesday to publicize an April auction.

“Every last tchotchke (Yiddish for inexpensive trinket) is for sale and every last tchotchke represents his flair and personality,” said Hillary A. Holland, a vice president of Christie’s International, who led cameramen and reporters through Liberace’s mirror-bedecked, block-long Beverly Boulevard penthouse suite.

Also on display was a more restrained Malibu beach house, which just the same featured a mirrored grand piano telephone and a king-size black mink bedspread valued by Christie’s at $5,000 to $8,000.

In all, some 2,500 lots containing 15,000 individual items taken from five of Liberace’s six homes will go on the auction block April 9 through 12 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The proceeds, sponsors say, will benefit the nonprofit Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts, which provides scholarships for creative arts students at 22 institutions.

Holland estimated that the sale--among the international art auction house’s three largest ever in terms of total merchandise offered--will take in $3 million to $5 million.

More than 1,000 bidders are expected and those unable to attend in person--at a $10 daily fee--can mail absentee bids to Christie’s, which is handling the sale in conjunction with the San Francisco-based Butterfield & Butterfield auctioneers.

In a 250-page illustrated “Liberace Collection” catalogue, due to roll off the presses next week for $15 a copy, individual items are valued at anywhere from $25,000 for a mirror-covered Baldwin grand piano down to $10 for a white plaster-cast of Polish composer Frederic Chopin’s left hand.

Entering the foyer Tuesday, guests faced a 100-year-old Baccarat crystal table--said by James to have been the pianist’s favorite--featuring swirl-molded and scalloped block legs and said to have once been owned by an Indian maharajah.

Down one hallway, looking out over a small pool in which fake birds spouted streams of water, was a den boasting elaborate Oriental furniture--set off by an imitation zebra rug. In the other direction, past walls of mirrors, was the main living room--cluttered with such a cornucopia of candelabra and crystal that the only thing that seemed missing was a sign reading, “If you break it, you’ve bought it.”

“He went for anything colorful and bold,” said Holland. “It’s dazzling, fun, eccentric. It was all deliberate, to achieve a spectacular effect. . . . He was always looking (for new items) from garage sales to antique shops on Madison Avenue.”

Almost the only thing not for sale at the penthouse was Liberace’s bed. “It’s against state law to re-sell mattresses,” said Holland. “There’s no exception here.”