Walking into the auction house was like walking into animal kingdom. The animals were all missing but their furs had been left behind.
I’d been to only one other auction where this many furs were sold, and they appeared to have come from some woman’s closet. These, however, seemed to have been in a fur store that had closed. In fact, I found the name of a local fur store on one of the items.
Short and long coats were hung on hangers against the wall and on movable racks in the first room of the auction house. Hats, headbands and pelt collars with little faces and paws, and other accessories were laid out in trays on a row of tables. There were leopard spots and brown minks, along with skins of animals I could not identify. I didn’t know what was real and what was fake.
I spotted what looked like a puffy fur item on a hanger on the wall and wasn’t sure what it was. It actually looked like the animal was still in it. On closer look, I saw that it was a mink hand muff.
I was overwhelmed with so much fur. I don’t hang out in fur stores, but I figured that this must be the experience of doing so.
I wasn’t around when the auction got started on the items, so I wasn’t sure if the auctioneer mentioned that they all came from the same store. I’d scoot in from time to time to see how this special sale was going and how much the items were selling for – an ocelot rug in the shape of the poor animal sold for around $15 and vests for $40 to $80. This sale had its own auctioneer, which happens when the auction house has an expansive lot of items for specific buyers.
And these buyers seemed to be racking up. One regular had stacked her stash high on chairs while others had taken over other chairs that had been set up in the room. No one was sitting; they were all up-close and personal with the both the auctioneer and the furs.
I don’t understand the fascination with wearing fur – nor the price. But if you must wear it, this was the place to buy it.
Here’s a look at what was selling:
Of all of the posts for me to comment on when you have been inspiring me for some time now… (I love your blog and share its content on my Facebook wall and Twitter feed.)
The older furs were probably unclaimed storage pieces and repairs that were unclaimed. There were probably some trade-in furs too. I’m a fan of vintage furs though I only own a coat with a mink collar found at the Salvation Army.
This is one of your most fascinating posts. Thank you for sharing your interests, because I’ve learned quite a bit.
Thanks, Robin. I love writing about the things I find at auction and I’m very happy you’re enjoying them and alerting others. I know very little about furs, so you’re probably right that these are ones that may have been unclaimed. I was intrigued because there were so many of them, along with the accessories.
Sherry