Auction of Romanian Dictator Ceausescu's Property Has Mixed Results
August 14, 1999 - 0:0
BUCHAREST An auction of hundreds of items belonging to late Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena had mixed results on the first day. While objects from dinner services to carpets bearing the image of the couple made up to ten times the opening price, presents sent by foreign heads of state and government did less well. Of seven vehicles belonging to Ceausescu or his son Nicu only two -- a luxury Buick Electra which then U.S. president Richard Nixon gave the dictator in 1976, and the first Romanian-built Dacia car -- found buyers.
The respective winning bids of $15,000 and $4,100 respectively fetched little more than the opening price, and the other five vehicles, including another Buick, will go back on the block later this week. But a clock on a marble stand given by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was bid up from $50 to $1,500, and a vase depicting the Ceausescus with a group of pioneer scouts made $750, six times the starting price.
Some buyers were acting discreetly on behalf of nostalgic communists, but antique dealers looking for articles of genuine value were disappointed. "There's nothing but kitsch, sold at exorbitant prices, and the organization is terrible," complained an American of Romanian origin. The Ceasescus were executed after a summary trial in December 1989 after their 25-year regime was toppled in a popular revolt.
Despite the execrable taste of the objects on sale this week in the first of several planned auctions, the state hopes to make some $300,000 profit. (AFP)
The respective winning bids of $15,000 and $4,100 respectively fetched little more than the opening price, and the other five vehicles, including another Buick, will go back on the block later this week. But a clock on a marble stand given by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was bid up from $50 to $1,500, and a vase depicting the Ceausescus with a group of pioneer scouts made $750, six times the starting price.
Some buyers were acting discreetly on behalf of nostalgic communists, but antique dealers looking for articles of genuine value were disappointed. "There's nothing but kitsch, sold at exorbitant prices, and the organization is terrible," complained an American of Romanian origin. The Ceasescus were executed after a summary trial in December 1989 after their 25-year regime was toppled in a popular revolt.
Despite the execrable taste of the objects on sale this week in the first of several planned auctions, the state hopes to make some $300,000 profit. (AFP)