Former Mayor Ed Koch's Furniture, Art Up For Auction

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A set of dining room chairs designed by Frank Lloyd Wright sold Monday for more than $11,000 at an auction of furniture and other possessions of the late New York Mayor Ed Koch.

The chairs were part of a dining set in Koch's home in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. While the chairs sold for well over the estimated price of $2,500 to $3,500, a matching table went for $1,375, under its $1,500 to $2,500 estimate.

The furniture pieces were among more than 40 items from Koch's estate offered at the Doyle New York auction house.

The auction house is selling his belongings in two sessions. Furniture, decorative arts and paintings were on the block Monday. On Nov. 25, Koch's correspondence with heads of state, his books and other ephemera are to be sold.

Koch's favorite burgundy leather upholstered club chair and ottoman brought $875; it had a pre-sale estimate of $200 to $300.

Among the more unusual items was a group of three ancient pottery vessels, two of which date to the Iron Age and the third to the first century. They sold for $1,875 but had been estimated to bring $700 to $1,000.

Koch's artworks included a lithograph by American artist Frank Stella titled "Jasper's Dilemma.'' It is inscribed "For Ed -- thanks a million -- F.S. '89.'' It sold for $2,250, within its estimate.

The Nov. 25 highlights include a framed copy of a 1948 letter from President Harry Truman recognizing Israel. Also included are letters from Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Koch died in February at the age of 88.

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