Even though Angelina Jolie paid nearly $400,000 for a few pieces from the graffiti artist Banksy last month in Los Angeles, his works have never reached a price that high at conventional auctions. But the prices are creeping up as his works gain a wider audience. At a Sotheby's auction in London, a set of six pictures of Kate Moss, done in the style of Andy Warhol, sold for about $94,000 (£50,400) and a sketch of the Mona Lisa, "sprayed green and with paint dripping from her eyes," went for almost £109,000 (£57,600). The prices were much more than double their estimates, setting new records at auction for the artist's work.

Christie's Star Trek memorabilia auction wrapped up yesterday with a grand total of $7,107,040 in sales, more than double what organizers were expecting to bring in. There were 1,000 lots that included costumes, props, miniatures and more from the Star Trek TV shows and movies. The highest priced item was the 78-inch-long (198-cm) model of the Starship Enterprise, which was heavily use in making the TV series, Star Trek: The Next Generation and sold for $576,000, far above its estimate of $15-20K. The purchase, by an anonymous bidder, is one of the "highest prices paid for any piece of Hollywood memorabilia."

Other noteworthy lots included a Klingon "Bird of Prey" ship model that sold for $307,200 and Dr. McCoy's space suit from the original series at $144,000.

Christies staff members, as well as auction participants, dressed in Star Trek costumes for the three-day event and the auction house said that its new online bidding system saw "its strongest response since it launched during the summer."

We first heard about Cher's yard sale back in August, where a $1-1.5 million dollar estimate was given for over 700 items from her home that were to be sold at the Beverly Hilton. The event took place this week and far exceeded the original estimate, taking in more than $3.5 million. Every single item offered found a buyer and the lots included a Bob Mackie costume ($60,000) and her 2005 Bentley ($204,000), which was the single priciest item in the sale.

According to the singer, part of the proceeds will go to charity, and the rest will be used to redecorate her mansion.

It sometimes seems that the supply of memorabilia connected to entertainment icons is never ending. Logic tells us there should be a limited amount of things to bid on and yet fresh items are always coming up at auction. The latest auction from Heritage Auctions which will take place this weekend includes items from bygone greats such as Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain, Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. The auction offers a variety of Dean memorabilia including a T-shirt he wore during the filming of "Rebel Without a Cause," the brown suit he wore in "East of Eden" and the item shown here, Dean's black leather motorcycle jacket. The jacket has a blue lining with Dean's nickname, "Little Bastard," embroidered on the inside under the collar. Rumor has that the jacket was pulled from the wreck of Dean's tragic life-ending car crash which makes it both more valuable and a touch ghoulish.

[via Yahoo News]

The Neiman Marcus 2006 Christmas book has been released. It's 101 pages of holiday shopping but it's really on those last pages, the Fantasy Gifts that we rush to see each year. Last year's book offered a chance to buy the Skycar, an adult treehouse and a red piano from Elton John. This year's offerings are the usual collection of things to drive, places to visit and one-of-a-kind treasures for your home:

2007 Fantasy Gifts

Virgin Galactic charter to space: $1.764 million
Buy now, head to space in 2009
Seven-foot tall pencil skyscraper: $40,000
His and Hers Twike: $40,000
A luxury version of the gas-free, guilt-free commuter vehicle
GG Quad: $56,465
part motorcycle, part exotic car, this beauty is fast, it can achieve a top speed of 115 mph
Sports Dream Package: bidding starts at $250,000
The Sports Dream Package includes VIP travel, accommodations, and tickets to six incredible pro sports events: the 2007 NHL All-Star Game in Dallas; Super Bowl XLI in South Florida; the 2007 NBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas; the 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in San Francisco; the 2007 US Open Tennis Championships Women's Final in Queens, NY; and a bonus surprise event. At each event, your group will have the chance to share a private meal with a living legend from that sport. Including Wayne Gretzky, Troy Aikman, Magic Johnson and Chris Evert. 100% of the gross proceeds from the online auction will benefit the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation.
Membership in Perpetuity to The Club at Castiglion Del Bosco: $3,800,000
Become part of one of Tuscany's oldest working wine estates while transforming it into a world-class luxury resort. This club built in an area of medieval ruins has 21 villas and a working winery. The villas are each being renovated and the club is also home to a spa, boutique hotel, restaurants, golf courses and more. Each member also gets a case of the winery's vintage each year.
House of Jacques Fath Couture Archives: $3,500,000
Buy a piece of fashion history. The entire archival record of the House of Fath including original sketchbooks with couture designs as well as three Fath haute couture dresses.
Two luxury pet homes from Italian designer Marco Morosini: $5,000 and $7,500
One is a minimalist crystal case with a leather armchair and the other is a little wood trailer with an interior rug and coordinating wallpaper.
Your own backyard waterpark: $100,000
A park built on your level site includes 26 interactive water columns, maneuverable cannons, spray faces, water games, and ground sprays that encourage creative play and has a programmable control panel to optimize water usage.
2007 NM Limited Edition BMW M6 Convertible: $139,000
This special NM Limited Edition has Ruby Black exterior paint, accented with Piano Black trim elements. The16-way power sports seats wrapped in a custom Gold Brown shade of supple BMW Individual merino leather. The car comes with the chance to fly to Europe and meet your car in Munich. These cars always sell out. It goes on sale Wednesday, October 18 and you can call 1-866-303-2696 to buy.

I've mentioned the amazing auctions held by Red Baron Antiques before. The latest one, which will take place on November 11 and 12 in Atlanta offers the usual display of antiques such as a massive bronze sculpture of Apollo and his winged chariot and a 60-foot-long wrought iron and stone fence and stained glass windows. One of the most fascinating pieces is former President Dwight D. Eisenhower's library from Boulevard Lundy in Reims, France where he lived in 1945 at the end of WWII in Europe. President Eisenhower used this room as his office and worked on the treaty of unconditional surrender within these walls. The oak paneled library is carved in high relief and has panels which open to reveal shelves. There is also a rouge marble veined mantel with fluted columns that sits under a large beveled mirror. If you've got the money and the space you can bring history into your own home.

Screen legend Jack Palance will be auctioning off his collection of art and antiques at a special auction at his home, Holly-Brooke farm in Pennsylvania. The auction which will take place on October 12-14 represents Palance's diverse collection of art, objects and film memorabilia. There will be more than 3,000 items sold in around 1,800 lots. Absentee bidders can also bid online but why miss out on an opportunity to check out Jack Palance's home, which looks pretty packed with treasures if this picture is any indication.

You may already be familiar with the name of Abraham David Gosman, because Donald Trump snapped up his former Palm Beach mansion at auction and turned it into one of the most expensive real estate listings in the world. Now Stampler Auctions will auction off the other belongings of Abraham David Gosman at the behest of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The compilation of personal property will be sold during a three-day auction, which will be held September 29 through October 1, 2006 and will include furniture, artwork and even bottles of liquor, perfume, clothing and more. The auction will be conducted at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

It's the week for fancy maquillage. Earlier this week, I brought you a diamond-studded mascara and lipstick, now check out this lip gloss ring. This massive diamond star ring was worn by Fergie at the Fashion Rocks! concert this year. The 18K white gold ring has a eight carats of diamonds in a pave setting. The ring contains a pot of Stila's hi-shine lip color and a mirror.The ring, which has an $80,000 value is being auctioned off by Charity Folks to benefit Children of the Nations. The auction ends today and last time I checked it was hovering under $10,000.

One of Colorado's most fantastic homes, Wildcat Ridge is set to be auctioned off this fall. We first noticed the home back in February 2005. The home was then listed at $35 million but now they are hoping to get at least $29.8 million for the 11-bedroom dream home.

This is the second big get we have seen for auction house Sheldon Good & Co. which is also set to auction off Miramar, a classic Newport, Rhode Island mansion.The home which belongs to tycoon Leon Hirsch also comes with 32 pieces of custom furniture. The auction will be conducted at the St. Regis Hotel, 315 East Dean Street in Aspen, Colorado on November 11.

[via Aspen Daily News]

In addition to the jewels of a princess, Sotheby's will be auctioning off the property from one of the greatest sopranos this fall. The private collection from the Anna Moffo Sarnoff Estate, will be part of a s series of New York sales through December. Her tastes ran toward contemporary works of art by Robert Indiana, Alexander Calder and Isamu Noguchi and Impressionist art by Jean Arp.She also collected furniture from around the world including this rare European-market Namban-style painted lacquer six-panel screen from the 17th century. The original Chinese lacquer screen bears some later Anglo-Dutch elements, such as metalwork detailing and tooled-leather reinforcements showing that the screen was exported to Europe and received such enhancements during the second half of the seventeenth century. This screen is eexpected to sell for $120-150,000.

Sotheby's haslanded another royal score, the estate of Her Royal Highness Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte of Luxembourg, the Princess of Belgium. The auction, which will be held on December 19 in Paris includes jewels, silver and works of art that belonged to the late princess. Some of the coveted possessions include two diamond tiaras which were both worn by Princess Josephine-Charlotte on her wedding day with Prince Jean . Earclips, hair ornaments and brooches and bracelets all designed by some of the most famous jewelers in the world are all part of this rare collection. The auction also includes other distinctive pieces such as a set of 12 gilt silver and enamel tea spoons with a tea strainer and sugar tongs in the original case and a collection of 15 exquisite royal fans.

[via National Jeweler]

Don't turn to Trader Joe's for a bottle of Two-Buck Chuck if you're looking for a good price on wine. The Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports that more and more wine lovers are heading to auction houses like Christie's to shop - not for the ultra-expensive or rare bottles of wine, but for bargains. Many lots of good, ready-to-drink wines, perhaps "from overzealous collectors, who bought more than they [could] drink," sell for well under $100 per bottle.

When people consign their collections to the auction block, they almost always have several lower-ticket items in addition to the really expensive bottles of Chateau Petrus that the auction houses take one either because they must, or because they're hoping to attract new bidders. Whatever their reason for offering the wines, the budget bottles are a boon to wine fans who find cases of their favorite vintages for less than retail. The self-described "bottom feeders" say that it just takes a little research on the catalogue listings to sniff out the best deals, but to come home with some good wines at even better prices, it is worth the effort.

The James Beard Foundation is hosting a benefit, Spain's 10 Cocina de Vanguardia, on October 12th in New York that will give guests a chance to experience the cooking of the chefs at the forefront of Spanish cuisine. The evening will include tapas, wine and sherry tastings and a live and silent auction. Some of the auction packages will include a private tapas party for 24 prepared by chef José Andrés, a gourmet tour of Spain for two, a month-long opportunity to learn Spanish and work in the kitchens of three of Spain's top chefs (Adrià, Arzak, and Berasategui) and an all-expenses paid luxury trip for two to Valencia for the America's Cup. Seats are $1000 per person or a group of eight can be seated at a table with Ferran Adrià, Juan Mari Arzak, or Martín Berasategui for $35,000-$50,000.

It may look like an ordinary rock, but this rock is actually the fossilized cast of a dinosaur brain and the closest you can get to a real dinosaur brain without buying an island and making your own Jurassic Park. The rare fossil, discovered in Sussex, is 135 million years old and shows "finely preserved impressions of nerves blood vessels and other soft tissue" from the brain of an Iguanodon. The auction entry suggests that it would make a great piece for a museum looking to expand their collection, though it would certainly be a conversation starter for a private home. The bidding starts at £50,000 and 60% of the final sale price will support Children's Brain Tumour Research Center.

[Thanks, James]