LONDON.- Having welcomed over 12,000 visitors to the pre-sale public exhibition of The Personal Collection of Audrey Hepburn in London, Part I of Christie’s auctions on 27 September realised £4,635,500 / $6,202,299 / €5,270,563, selling 100% by lot and 100% by value, with registered bidders from 46 countries across six continents. Comprising 246 lots, the auction drew international interest, sparking competitive bidding in the saleroom, on the telephones and online, with 30% of lots selling through Christie’s Live.

Adrian Hume-Sayer, Head of Sale and Director of Private Collections: “We have been utterly delighted with the overwhelming response to the personal collection of Audrey Hepburn. She is one of the greatest icons in the history of film and the incredible result so far, for Part I of the collection, is a testament to her enduring appeal. Thank you to everyone who made the sale such a resounding success. Bidding remains open online for Part II until the 4 October.”

Providing many further opportunities across all price points, with estimates starting from £100, the online sale (Part II) comprises a further 227 lots and will remain open for bids until 3pm GMT on the 3 October (lots 301-449) and 4 October (lots 450-531), having opened on 19 September.

• The top lot was Audrey Hepburn’s working script for the 1961 Paramount production Breakfast at Tiffany’s (estimate: £60,000-90,000). The screenplay, which includes deleted scenes, sold for £632,750 / $846,619 / €719,437 and realised a world auction record for a script. Hepburn’s working script for the Warner Bros. production My Fair Lady, dated 24 June, 1963 (estimate: £30,000-50,000) sold for £206,250 / $275,962 / €234,506.

• Another notable piece was the much-coveted blue satin sleep mask with blue lace-trimmed flowers (estimate: £100-150) which attracted the highest number of registered bidders for any lot and sold for £6,250 / $8,363 / €7,106 – 50 times its pre-sale estimate. Sleep masks were a feature of the muchtravelled movie star’s life, transferred famously onto the silver screen in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

• Audrey Hepburn’s wardrobe was another major draw for collectors: her three-quarter length Burberry trench coat, lined in iconic Burberry plaid, realised a price of £68,750 / $91,988 / €78,169, more than 10 times its low estimate; the two-piece Givenchy cocktail gown of black satin, made for her much celebrated 1963 film Charade, also achieved a price of £68,750 / $91,988 / €78,169.

• A personal item that saw a huge swell of interest was her 1969 painting ‘My Garden Flowers’ which realised a price of £224,750 / $300,715 / €255,541 and was the third highest price of the auction.

Audrey Hepburn is regarded as not only one of the greatest screen actresses of all time, but as a style icon. Twenty-four years after her death she maintains a resonance and popularity as strong today as it was during her lifetime. These auctions provide an unprecedented opportunity to acquire personal items treasured by one of the most famous and well-loved women of the 20th century.