NEW YORK – Bidders flipped their wigs Thursday at a Manhattan auction where one of pop art icon Andy Warhol's signature silver hairpieces sold for $10,800.
The wig, complete with three strips of toupee tape inside, was worn by Warhol during the early 1980s. Warhol began wearing the hairpieces in the early 1960s, and they eventually turned into fashion accessories more than a cover-up for his baldness. Presale estimates for the hairpiece were $4,000 to $6,000.
It was one of several lots put up at Christie's auction house by Jeffrey Warhola, the artist's nephew. A 1977 Polaroid photo of Muhammad Ali, signed by Warhol, sold for $19,200. And a Warhol Polaroid of Mick Jagger from 1975 went for $15,600.
The top items in the celebrity sale belonged to Marilyn Monroe. A black cocktail dress worn during filming of "The Misfits" sold for $66,000, while a full-length ermine coat worn by Monroe in 1957 sold for $50,400.
An address and telephone book belonging to Monroe in the early 1960s sold for $31,200, more than double the pre-sale estimate. Many of the entries were written in by the movie goddess' personal assistant, but there were notations in Monroe's own writing for well-known friends like Susan Strasberg, Dean Martin and Sam Goldwyn Jr.
There was also a page in the back of the book with a listing of doctor's numbers, including Monroe's personal physician, her psychiatrist and her psychoanalyst.
A bracelet presented to the late "Gone With the Wind" star Clark Gable by his future wife, actress Carole Lombard, sold for $7,800. The gold-linked bracelet had Gable's initials on the clasp, and bore the message, "I Love You CL." It was accompanied by two black-and-white photos of Gable wearing the jewelry.
A copy of the book "Gone With the Wind," inscribed to Gable by the film's producer, David O. Selznick, sold for $10,200.
All sales prices included a 20 percent buyers' premium.
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