The Facts
Bonhams will present The Sandy Lerner Collection, encompassing nearly 1,000 lots of fine art, collectibles, and home furnishings from the Ayrshire Farm estate of businesswoman and philanthropist Sandy Lerner. The collection will be sold across four auctions—two live and two online—in New York and Massachusetts in September and October 2026. The live auction on September 30 at Bonhams' new U.S. flagship headquarters at 111 West 57th Street features 66 cat-themed artworks, decorative objects, and jewelry by artists including Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita, Diego Giacometti, Henri Matisse, and others, with estimates ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. Highlights include a carved lavender jadeite cat necklace estimated at $14,000–18,000 and a Tiffany & Co. gold cat mask brooch at $8,000–12,000. An online sale runs September 22–October1 in Massachusetts, and further Ayrshire Farm auctions follow in October.
The Signal
Lerner co-founded Cisco Systems and Urban Decay, and her four-decade pursuit of feline imagery is documented in her book 'Caticons: 4,000 Years of Art Imitating Cats'. The dispersal of this deeply personal collection offers collectors a rare opportunity to acquire a thematically cohesive assembly spanning centuries and cultures, from Qing Dynasty snuff bottles to modern jewelry. The sale also underscores Bonhams' expansion with its new flagship, positioning the house to attract high-profile single-owner consignments.
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- Artists: Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita, Diego Giacometti, Henri Matisse, Rembrandt Bugatti, Édouard Manet, Theophile Alexandre Steinlen, Fernando Botero, Henriette Ronner-Knip
- People: Sandy Lerner
- Locations: New York, Massachusetts
- Prices: $30,000 - 50,000, $20,000 - 30,000, $10,000 - 15,000, $14,000 - 18,000, $8,000 - 12,000, $30,000 - 40,000
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