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Auctions

The life jacket worn by Titanic survivor Laura Mabel Francatelli

The Titanic Carried 3,500 Life Jackets, but Almost All of Them Have Been Lost to History. This One Just Sold at Auction for Nearly $1 Million

The artifact belonged to first-class passenger Laura Mabel Francatelli, a secretary heading to Chicago with her employer. It’s the only life vest connected to a survivor of the 1912 shipwreck to ever appear at auction

Gustave Eiffel at the Eiffel Tower in 1889

A Dizzying Spiral Staircase With a Single Guardrail Once Led to the Top of the Eiffel Tower. Now, You Can Buy 14 of the Original Steps

The 1,062 steps connecting the tower’s second and third levels were installed in 1889. Fragments from the 137-year-old staircase can be found at several French museums

A damaged portrait of Mary Magdalene by Artemisia Gentileschi (left) and a similar version of the same scene (right) housed at the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy

Rolled Up in a Cellar for Decades, This Artemisia Gentileschi Painting Is Now Up for Auction. Why Is Mary Magdalene’s Face Missing From the Portrait?

Found in Berlin, the artwork was probably damaged in the chaotic aftermath of World War II. Despite the gaping hole in the canvas, it could sell for upwards of $180,000 later this month

John Jacob Astor IV's 18-karat gold pocket watch and 14-karat gold pencil case

The Titanic’s Wealthiest Victim Was Carrying a Gold Pocket Watch When He Died. Now, It Could Sell for $500,000 at Auction

John Jacob Astor IV was returning from his honeymoon with his wife, who survived the 1912 disaster. His pocket watch and gold pencil case are going up for sale this month

The C-3PO head used in The Empire Strikes Back

This C-3PO Head From ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ Just Sold for More Than $1 Million at Auction

The ‘Star Wars’ prop was likely the only C-3PO head from the 1980 film to appear on the collector market. It features working light-up eyes, including one with the original wiring

David Gilmour's famed guitar was also auctioned in 2019, when it sold for just under $4 million.

This Iconic Pink Floyd Instrument Just Became the Most Expensive Guitar Ever Sold at Auction

David Gilmour’s 1969 Fender Stratocaster, used on “The Dark Side of the Moon” and other famous albums, sold for a record $14.55 million

The medal features a portrait of Zeus on one side. The other side depicts the Acropolis in Athens.

This Rare Silver Medal From the First Modern Olympic Games in 1896 Just Sold at Auction

At the time, athletes received silver medals for winning first place. The Olympics didn’t introduce gold medals until 1904

Dalí's painting measures roughly 66 feet by 98 feet.

You Can Buy Salvador Dalí’s Largest Painting, a 100-Foot-Long Artwork Made for a Ballet in 1939

The Surrealist artist created the massive piece for a production called “Bacchanale.” It’s expected to fetch up to $348,000 at auction

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, 1984

Anime, Manga and Traditional Japanese Art Come Together at an Upcoming Auction—From Hokusai’s ‘The Great Wave’ to Miyazaki’s ‘My Neighbor Totoro’

The sale places pop culture artifacts in conversation with Japan’s rich visual traditions. According to Christie’s, these items “trace the enduring resonance of motifs, techniques and narratives rooted in Japan’s past”

Self-Portrait in a Fur Cap, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1630

Cool Finds

A Woman Found a Folder in a Drawer. When She Opened It, She Discovered 35 Forgotten Rembrandt Etchings

Charlotte Meyer’s grandfather acquired the artworks between 1900 and 1920. Now, they’re going on view for the first time in more than a century

The illustrations are owned by a family in London.

Rare and Original Watercolor Illustrations of Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Jungle Book’ Go Up for Auction

The two paintings were copied into a limited-edition book of illustrations published almost a decade after the famous book of wild stories set in India

The Rothschild Vienna Mahzor was created in 1415 by a medieval scribe who identified himself as Moses, son of Menachem.

The Nazis Stole This Rare Jewish Prayer Book Decorated With Dragons, Unicorns and Intricate Floral Patterns. It Just Sold for $6.4 Million at Auction

A scribe created the volume, now known as the Rothschild Vienna Mahzor, in Vienna 600 years ago. It was recently returned to the heirs of its 20th-century owners, who decided to sell the text at a Sotheby’s sale

The auction house expects the card to sell for between $5 and $7 million.

You Can Buy One of History’s Rarest Baseball Cards—if You Have Several Million Dollars to Spare

The newly graded T206 Honus Wagner card has been in the same family for 116 years. It wasn’t on experts’ radar until last year

This rare broadside copy of the Declaration of Independence will be sold in May.

America's 250th Anniversary

You Can Buy a Rare Broadside Copy of the Declaration of Independence From July 1776

The document, which will head to auction this spring, is one of roughly 125 broadsides from July 1776 known to survive

Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy, painted by Artemisia Gentileschi circa 1625, will be on view at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. beginning in late February.

Women Who Shaped History

The National Gallery of Art Acquires 17th-Century Masterpiece by Baroque Painter Artemisia Gentileschi

“Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy” is the gallery’s first work by the Italian artist, who was one of the most influential female painters of her time

The original scroll of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, up for auction in March, is 121 feet long.

You Can Buy Jack Kerouac’s Early Draft of ‘On the Road,’ Which He Typed on a 121-Foot-Long Scroll

The author taped pages together so he wouldn’t need to load paper into his typewriter. The original scroll of the Beat Generation classic is expected to fetch up to $4 million at auction

Nelson Mandela in April 1994

Dozens of Items That Once Belonged to Nelson Mandela Can Head to Auction, South African Court Rules

The collection includes shirts, sunglasses, a signed copy of South Africa’s first post-apartheid constitution and a prison key from Robben Island

William Zachs stands before the Henry Raeburn and Alexander Nasmyth portraits, now on display together at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Cool Finds

The Mystery of the Missing Robert Burns Painting Has Finally Been Solved—After 200 Years of Searches and Seances

The portrait of the renowned Scottish poet vanished without a trace in 1840. Since then, scholars and sleuths alike have been strategizing about how to get it back

Frida on a White Bench, New York by Nickolas Muray surrounded by merchandise inspired by the image

Frida Kahlo’s Image Is on Paintings, Posters, Socks and Sanitary Pads. How Did Fridamania Come to Dominate Popular Culture?

An exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston features paintings by Kahlo, works by artists she inspired and consumer products featuring her self-portraits

Portraits of Oscar Wilde taken in New York in 1882

Oscar Wilde’s Portraits, Poems, Letters and Manuscripts Head to Auction 125 Years After His Death

Other rare items, available for purchase in February, include illustrations, theater programs, telegrams and newspapers

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