Hundreds of memorabilia belonging to the late magic duo Siegfried and Roy were auctioned in California on Wednesday (local time).
Among the pieces were jewelry, costumes and souvenirs of the illusionists’ decades-long stage career with their exotic wild cats and furniture from their villas in the casino city of Las Vegas.
An elephant sculpture by Salvador Dalí with an estimate of up to 8,000 dollars (almost 7,500 euros) ended up achieving more than 21,600 dollars. An antique French clock in the shape of a tortoise (circa 1870-80) fetched just as much. An upholstered armchair with a leopard pattern went under the hammer for just under $2,300.
The two-day Siegfried & Roy: Masters of the Impossible auction was set to resume on Thursday. The proceeds will go to the SARMOTI Foundation, founded by Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn, to protect endangered animals, the Bonhams auction house in Los Angeles had previously announced.
Born in Rosenheim, Fischbacher died of cancer in January 2021 at the age of 81. Horn from Nordenham near Bremen died in May 2020 at the age of 75 from a Covid 19 infection. “Siegfried & Roy” were world famous for their performances with white tigers and lions and wrote show history in Las Vegas. The duo’s career ended there in October 2003, when a tiger inflicted serious injuries on Horn during a performance, from which the tamer never fully recovered.
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