Art and Emblems of Friendships with the Kennedys at Bonhams' Bi-Atlantic Sales

NEW YORK — The first of Bonhams' Kennedy offerings, is a section titled the "Kennedy Years" in the Fine Books & Manuscripts sale in New York 10:30 am on March 9. From several consigners, items up for sale tell the story of JFK's days as a young senator arriving in Washington D.C. with his beautiful young bride, his rise to seize the Democratic ticket, and his presidential campaign and presidency. 

Leading the sale is the original plaster maquette from the bust of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, modeled by renowned sculptor Felix De Weldon, most known for his Marines Corps Memorial, in the mid to late 1963, estimated at $150,000-200,000. After the president was assassinated on November 22, 1963, Jackie worked closely with the sculptor to ensure the truest depiction of the fallen president. Most notably she re-shaped the mouth so the bust portrayed him smiling. Completed in 1964, the bronze cast of this bust stood nobly in the cabinet room in the North East corner of the White House, before Jackie moved it in 1979 to the new John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.

Prominently featured in the sale, are groups of photos shot by Orlando Suero from Three Lions pictures, which offer a rare glimpse into JFK and Jackie's first year of marriage in 1954, a junior senator from Massachusetts and a political history student at Georgetown University. From a five-day shoot with the couple in and around their first home in Georgetown, the first group shows Jackie in class and around the campus of Georgetown (estimate $3,000-5,000). The second presents JFK relaxing at home discussing a senate bill with Jackie and playing a friendly game of football with brother Robert while his wife and sister-in-law watch (estimate $4,000-6,000).

Additional highlights include items from Jackie's personal assistant, Mary Gallagher, who served JFK when he was a young senator before working for his wife. Gallagher met Jackie in her bedroom at 9:30 am each morning, and liaised between her, designers, artists, and the president, whom she reported Jackie's personal expenses. Jackie's famed relationship with Paris-born designer Oleg Cassini comes to life in a collection of notes to be delivered to her exclusive couturier, estimated at $3,000-5,000, including her hand drawn sketches of dresses on White House stationary. Up for sale, jewelry and a goodbye note from Jackie at the end of Gallagher's employment reads "please accept this with memories of so many happy days", estimated at $3,000-5,000. 

The friendship of JFK and British Ambassador David Ormsby Gore is conveyed through personal possessions at Bonhams London sale of Glyn Cywarch on March 29.

Bonhams London is to sell the contents of Glyn Cywarch, the Welsh seat of Jasset Ormsby Gore, the 7th Lord Harlech. The Contents of Glyn Cywarch - the property of Lord Harlech sale will take place at Bonhams, New Bond Street, London on 29 March 2017. Some of the most fascinating objects tell the story of the close friendship between Lord Harlech's grandfather, David Ormsby Gore (5th Lord Harlech), and President Kennedy.

In 1961, David Ormsby Gore was appointed by the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, as the UK's Ambassador to the United States. He served until 1965, the year after he assumed the title on the death of his father. David Ormsby Gore played a key role as adviser to Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and was once referred to by the President as one of the two brightest men he ever knew. Ormsby Gore and his wife Sissy formed a particularly close personal bond with President Kennedy and his wife Jackie.

Up for sale, gifts from the Kennedys to the Harlechs include:

?? A copy of JFK's copy of The Poetical Works of Shelley from Jackie Kennedy to David Ormsby Gore on his birthday accompanied by a handwritten note from Jackie, estimated at £1,000-2,000.

?? A copy of Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States... to John F. Kennedy 1961 given to Ormsby Gore in 1963 by Jackie Kennedy a few weeks after the President's assassination with inscription in her handwriting, estimated at £3,000-5,000.

?? An American Sterling Silver Cigar Box given by Jackie Kennedy in 1965 to Lord and Lady Harlech engraved and inscribed to David and Sissy (Harlech), estimated at £800-1,200.