The owner of The Potomack Company auction house in Virginia said they were 'just really blown away by the interest.' A pre-sale estimate was that the auction could raise $50,000 to $80,000.
WASHINGTON — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's silver tea set is going to a family with a 5-year-old daughter who once was Ginsburg for Halloween. A medal Ginsburg was awarded when inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame is going to a family that demonstrated recently for reproductive rights. And a drawing of her that hung in her office was a Utah-based scientist's Mother's Day gift to his wife.
Ginsburg died of cancer at age 87 in September 2020. In her later years, the court's second female justice and liberal icon also become a pop culture figure known as the"Notorious RBG." In January, an online auction of her books brought in $2.3 million, almost 30 times the pre-sale estimate, according to Bonhams, the company that conducted the auction.
Other high-dollar sales included modern art that Ginsburg had collected. A terracotta Pablo Picasso jug she displayed in her living room sold for $25,000 while an earthenware Picasso plate that hung in her dining room sold for $22,500. A print of Josef Albers'"Red Orange Wall," which hung in Ginsburg's bedroom, sold for $27,500.
Before her death, Ginsburg displayed a number of the items that were auctioned in her apartment at the Watergate complex in Washington. The auction's online catalog included images of how Ginsburg had displayed those items.