Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.

'Dracula' desk expected to fetch USD 80,000 at auction

Image
Press Trust of India London
Last Updated : Jan 21 2013 | 5:46 PM IST

California company Profiles in History will handle the sale, which will take place on December 15 and 16.

The auction house expects the desk, along with a matching baroque candelabra to sell for somewhere between USD 60,000 and USD 80,000.

The remarkable piece of furniture has had a long history, which, over the past century, has left it battered, with missing drawers, the Daily Mail reported.

The Irish-born Stoker, who died in 1912, initially gave the desk to his friend J S R Phillips. The famous writer often stayed with Phillips at his home in the UK.

The current owner commissioned British-based furniture maker and designer Mark Brazier-Jones to preserve the desk, but also make it a stand-alone art piece, the auction house said.

Brazier-Jones said that he wanted to preserve the desk's scars and textures, but also pay homage to the man who introduced the vampire Count Dracula to today's pop culture.

More From This Section

His improvements include embroidered imagery 'appropriate to the great man's inspirations and imagining', including bats, a savage hound reminiscent of Dracula's arrival in Whitby Abbey, and scrolling rose thorns and buds.

"I visualise Stoker sat pen to paper contemplating a moonlit rose garden, breathless milk white cleavage and blood soaked lace," Brazier-Jones wrote, according to the East Valley Tribune.

The desk's new fixtures have all been created in bronze and burnished steel, while the drawers have been lined with blood-red velvet.

Brazier-Jones also outfitted with leather two secret compartments which will only be revealed to the new owner of the desk.

Another hidden chest within the desk has been created in bronze and carved with a rose bas-relief.

'Dracula' was Bram Stoker's fifth and by far his most famous novel.

The classic Gothic novel follows the vampire Count Dracula on his journey from his native Transylvania, Romania, to England, where he is finally slain by a small group of men and women led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing.

The character of the bloodthirsty nobleman was inspired by Vlad III, a 15th century Wallachian prince known for his excessive cruelty which has earned him the nickname Vlad the Impaler.

  

Also Read

First Published: Nov 02 2012 | 1:35 PM IST

Next Story