Auction Views

Eisenhower Office Off the Charts at Red Baron in Atlanta

Quarter-sawn oak room in France that served as Gen. Dwight Eisenhower’s office
in the final days of World War II ($391,000).

There was no surprise in Atlanta in early November when the very room where Dwight D. Eisenhower, then supreme commander of the allied forces in World War II, drew up the terms of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender in the waning days of the war, sold as the top lot at Red Baron’s.
No surprise, of course: six figures is par for the course these days for artifacts that have witnessed significant moments of history. The price for this chunk of WWII legend? A whopping $391,000 (including buyer’s premium). The buyer has announced no plans for the room and asked to remain anonymous.
Red Baron vice president Paul Brown was sanguine about the sale. “We expected the Eisenhower office to be the top lot of the day,” he said, “and it was.”
At 13 feet wide and 21 feet long, the room – used by Eisenhower as a private office and a base of operations in 1945 – came out of a house on the Boulevard Lundy, 100 percent as it was when the Nazis capitulated at the end of the war.
The Eisenhower office helped buoy several other architectural lots featured in the sale, including a massive, beautiful nineteenth-century cut stone and wrought iron gateway, also from France, a mahogany paneled parlor and a suite of Milanese walnut furniture.
The gateway, if less historically significant than the Eisenhower office, certainly inspired passionate bidding among buyers, showing along the way that – at least in Atlanta – bigger is certainly still desirable. When the gavel finally came down on the massive gate, a $281,750 price (including buyer’s premium) was realized. Whether the price was affected by the excitement generated by the Eisenhower office may not be quantifiable, but it sure didn’t seem to hurt the enthusiasm of interested bidders.
“A rising tide lifts all ships,” said Brown.
The gate measures 16 feet tall and 60 feet long and originally adorned a chateau outside of Paris. Red Baron used the massive structure as a gateway to the auction on sale day, stopping many members of the assembled crowd in their tracks as they filed in.
The Mahogany paneled parlor and the Milanese furniture suite realized $138,000 and $210,000 respectively.
Sharing Red Baron’s parking lot with the sprawling entryway, but drawing just as much attention, was a monumental statue of the Greek God Apollo and his chariot, in polished bronze. Depicting the winged god and his eight-horse team, the group, measuring 20 feet tall and 50 feet long, went to a determined bidder for $103,500.
Gracing the cover of the catalog for the sale was a late nineteenth-century figural window that was far more beautiful in person than in its picture. Standing more than seven feet tall and originally installed in a Pennsylvania mansion, the window depicted a classically robed female, masterfully painted with delicate features. It realized $77,625.
An impressive pair of Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie School stained glass windows that came out of an Illinois home gaveled for $28,750. The “light screens” (Wright’s term for windows) featured his signature geometric forms, a dramatic reaction against the naturalistic style of the day. Such windows are rare, as few have survived the years.
Red Baron sales are always known to feature excellent examples of vintage and one-of-a-kind automobiles and the November auction was no different, with a few supreme automotive examples drawing intense bidding from a handful of the nation’s most noted car collectors.
The top car lot of the sale was a stunning 1966 Jaguar XJ13 concept car, of which seven were built, and only two survive. At $253,000 it’s probably a good bet this car isn’t going on any road trips in the near future.
Another concept car got the attention of crowds at the sale. A futuristic, sleek one-of-a-kind 1958 Chrysler-Plymouth, called a Tornado, hammered home at $138,000. Built on a Fury frame, the car is not only an important piece of golden age of American auto design, it also is an important artifact of Modernism and an America just beginning its obsession with space travel.
To learn more about the company and its upcoming sales, visit www.rbantiques.com. To consign an item, estate or collection, call them at (404) 252-3770. Red Baron’s is located at 6450 Roswell Road in Atlanta, Georgia.