Conspicuous uptake was a theme of the Reagan era , so it would n’t be surprising to find an auction of Ronald and Nancy Reagan ’s personal result litter with high - condition , high - glisten items in keeping with 1980s inordinateness . But while theauction of Reaganobiliataking seat at Christie ’s later this month does feature some glitzy high points — like a diamond , sapphire , and ruby BulgariAmerican flag ringNancy used when pledge dedication — it ’s more notable for its small touches , like the sawhorse - determine jar of jellybeans than once sit on Reagan ’s desk or the linen dinner napkins he favour , embroidered with the musical phrase “ Mr. President . ”
Bess Lovejoy
The auction include mountain of glimpse of Reagan the man , including aset of doodleshe penciled on White House stationery around 1982 . Alongside cartoon character with a Western composition , they feature two ego - portraits : one of Reagan dress up as a cowboy , and another of him in a suit . In observe with the former president ’s love of westerly composition , the auction also features a pair of Tony Lama - designedcowboy bootsmade of ostrich , cowskin , and bullfrog cutis , embossed with the Great Seal of the United States in 14k atomic number 79 .
Another scrabble in the same solidification , of a football game thespian , reflects one of Reagan ’s most famous plastic film roles , when he played the gifted but doomed Notre Dame histrion George Gipp in the 1940 filmKnute Rockne , All American . That office is also commemorated by another item in the collecting , anofficial NFL Wilson footballReagan inscribed “ succeed one for the Gipper”—a line Reagan emit both in the film and at the 1988 Republican National Convention ( when he directed it at George W. Bush ) .
Christie ’s
away from ingeminate habit of the phrase “ president ” ( “ first place chairperson ” is engraved on one biff trough ) , the football game is one of the few item with obvious political overtone . However , there ’s also a fineneedlepoint pillowdecorated with the cable “ you ai n’t seen nothing yet , ” and limn all the land Reagan carried in the 1984 election ( all but Walter Mondale ’s home state of Minnesota ) . The 1984 election is also echo in a Tiffanymarine chronometerFrank Sinatra gave Reagan as a 1981 inauguration giving , which includes an graven plaque that reads “ Good morning Mr. President . ” ( That “ sunup ” theme , of class , is reminiscent of theTV advertizement campaignthat move Reagan to his 2nd terminus : “ It ’s morn again in America . ” )
government also shows up in a more humourous mineral vein in the couple ’s aggregation of 27 elephant figurines , which were once strew ( alongside several bald eagles ) around the brace ’s Bel Air home at 668 St. Cloud Road . harmonise to the auction catalog , the original address was 666 , before Nancy Reagan made them change it .
But perhaps the most low item of all is the most significant — a chunk of graffitied concrete to which Reagan add his name in black feel - tip marker . The 25 - inchslab of the Berlin Wallrecalls another of the 40th president ’s famous moments , on June 12 , 1987 , when he stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate and implore “ Mr. Gorbachev , bust down this wall ! "
For those concerned in owning a man of presidential story , the auction runs dwell at Christie ’s in New York , September 21 - 22 ( public previews extend until September 20 ) and on-line September 19 - 27 . While there are heap of items with lower estimates — you could have napkins that once graced presidential sass for only a few hundred dollars — the auction bridge in total is expected to raise over $ 2 million for the Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute .
