DALLAS, TX.- The Art of Judith Leiber Luxury Collection™, a rare and private collection of the designer’s most iconic forms and designs, sold for $501,900 amid spirited bidding in a 100 percent sold-out auction at Heritage Auctions Oct. 9, 2015. The collection’s more than 300 lots are the first of more than 500 special works that are scheduled to appear at Heritage through 2016.

“In the auction world this a White Glove Auction — every single lot sold and appealed to collectors around the globe,” said Diane D'Amato, Director of Luxury Accessories at Heritage Auctions in New York. “It was a delight bringing this special collection to auction and we look forward to ‘opening the vault’ to reveal more treasures during the coming year.”

Top lot honors were shared by an Elephant Minaudiere Evening Bag, featuring silver and red crystals with two cabochon garnets for eyes, which sold for $4,000 — five times its pre-auction estimate — and a luxurious, Judith Leiber Brown Alligator Top Handle Bag with Gold Hardware, in excellent condition, which also sold for $4,000 — more than 13 times its pre-auction estimate.

Collectors focused on iconic shapes, signature themes and unusual colors. A stunning, Full Bead Multicolored Crystal Geometric Minaudiere Evening Bag, celebrating Leiber’s love affair with patterns, sold for $3,750. A whimsical Half Bead Red, White & Silver Crystal Santa Claus Minaudiere Evening Bag sold for $3,250 and a unique Full Bead Pink & Silver Crystal and Fringe Train Case Minaudiere Evening Bag, featuring unusual pink fringe at the base encircling a gold leather bottom, sold for $3,000.

First sculpted in a wax mold, then cast in brass hardware, and finally hand painted and decorated with brilliant Austrian crystals, Judith Leiber's minaudieres thrive at the crossroads of art, design, and style. An elegant Half Bead Gold & Silver Crystal Box Minaudiere Evening Bag, decorated with tiny, fanlike details that are accentuated with silver crystals, sold for $3,000, and a Full Bead Blue & Silver Crystal Geometric Eclipse Minaudiere Evening Bag, depicting a silver crystal hexagon eclipsing a blue crystal circle, also sold for $3,000. An unusual White & Pink Iridescent Sundial Seashell Minaudiere Evening Bag, notable for its distinctive seashell form, sold for $2,750.

Evening bags associated or handcrafted for celebrities or heads of state saw intense bidding, as a Crystal Socks Sleeping Tuxedo Cat Minaudiere Evening Bag, created for and worn by Hillary Clinton, sold for $2,750; a Half Bead Pink Crystal & Black Satin Brad Pitt Portrait Minaudiere Evening Bag by Steven Klein sold for $2,625; and a White Satin & Silver Crystal Evening Bag, made especially to be carried by Nancy Reagan to her husband's 1985 Presidential Inauguration, sold for $2,150.

The next offering from the private collection of Judith Leiber Luxury Handbags at Heritage Auctions will open in approximately five weeks through Weekly Vintage Luxury Accessories Auctions on HA.com. Please visit HA.com to register to bid.