Fans of musical theater legend Stephen Sondheim will know that the Tony-, Grammy-, Oscar- and Pulitzer-winning lyricist and composer behind West Side Story, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods and more also regularly enjoyed a glass of wine. And now the master’s fans have a chance to buy his wineglasses, along with hundreds of other artifacts of American musical theater history.
The Collection of Stephen Sondheim auction, to be held June 18 by Doyle in New York and online, will include over 450 lots featuring wineglasses, barware, books, memorabilia and more from Sondheim’s Manhattan townhouse and country home in Roxbury, Conn.
What’s for Sale at the Stephen Sondheim Auction?
Among the auction lots for sale are several wine-related treasures. Lot 90 (presale high estimate: $400) features over 50 glasses and pieces of barware, including Tiffany glasses, Champagne flutes, wineglasses and four Baccarat decanters. Have these glasses touched the lips of the master?
Other drinks-related lots include an 18th-century Russian glass goblet etched with the cipher of Catherine the Great ($5,000). There’s also a French wine–themed wheel of chance for a lottery-type game (from France, circa 1900, $500) and a group of sterling silver table articles ($250). For spirits and cocktail fans, a three-tier Victorian mahogany serving cart ($1,200) and Victorian mahogany spirits table ($1,200) would be stellar additions to any home bar.
The other lots feature fine furniture, show posters and other memorabilia, book collections (some of them annotated in Sondheim’s hand) and beyond. Around half the lots are vintage games—including cribbage boards, jigsaw puzzles, decks of cards and more—which Sondheim collected with a passion. While there are plenty of spendy items (the presale high estimate for an enameled silver-gilt Fabergé box is $18,000), many of the lots are estimated at under $1,000. You don’t have to be one of the ladies who lunch to snag yourself a Sondheim relic.
Stephen Sondheim: Wine and the Creative Life
Sondheim, who died in 2021, worked on 20 shows that redefined the course of American musical theater. Where would the genre be without West Side Story, Gypsy, Company, Follies, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along (currently playing on Broadway) and many more?
Wine, it seems, played a part in Sondheim’s massive creative output. In a 2012 interview with The Guardian, Sondheim said that he preferred to sip on something—sometimes vodka, but primarily wine later in his life—while he wrote lyrics, which he found more difficult than writing music. “Out of wine comes truth,” the Dionysians sing in Sondheim’s The Frogs. Truth, and great lyrics too.
The Collection of Stephen Sondheim auction will be held June 18 at Doyle’s New York office; remote bids will be accepted over the phone and online at Doyle.com. There will also be a public exhibition of the items, open June 14–17, with a kick-off party featuring cocktails and the chance to try your hand at many of Sondheim’s beloved games.
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