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NOVEMBER 21, 2026 · BELLPORT & ONLINE
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CORNELL AUCTIONS · NOVEMBER 21, 2026 · BELLPORT, NEW YORK
The Magpie
and the Swans
THE POSSESSIONS OF TRUMAN CAPOTE
Collected over a lifetime between New York and Sagaponack, and preserved since 1984 by his biographer, Gerald Clarke.
and the Swans
The Possessions of Truman Capote
Collected over a lifetime between New York and Sagaponack, and preserved since 1984 by his biographer Gerald Clarke, these personal possessions offer an intimate glimpse into the life of one of America's most iconic writers.
01 / SPECIAL AUCTION
FROM THE CATALOGUE · ROY AND CARLO
THE
POSSESSIONS
OF TRUMAN
CAPOTE.
A life in
objects.
Truman Capote collected the way he lived — with joyful, unapologetic abandon. A visitor to his New York apartment once noted that his rooms contained the contents of “a very astute little boy’s pockets ... in short, everything that might seem useful or handy in a day’s adventuring around the world.”
Most of what you’ll find in this catalog came from Sagaponack — the weathered gray beach house on Long Island where he worked, walked his bulldog Maggie, and accumulated, without apology, everything that caught his eye. Some came from further afield. All of it is personal, lived-in, and entirely his.
Excerpts from the catalogue introduction, printed pages 2–3.
LOT 1 · CATALOGUE P. 16
JOINTED WOODEN FELIX THE CAT
A jointed figure of Felix the Cat in turned and carved wood, painted matte black with a cream face, jointed arms and legs and a tail built from graduated beads. FELIX stencilled down the front. No maker’s stamp found, probably Schoenhut, Philadelphia.
LOT 7 · CATALOGUE P. 20
ANTIQUE BLACK FOREST STYLE CARVED BULLDOG WALL POCKET
Carved wood bulldog seated on a rectangular plinth, with glass eyes and an open mouth, the flat back hollowed into a deep open well and fitted with a hanger.
LOT 69 · CATALOGUE P. 54
“WHITE ROSE” PAPERWEIGHT, GIVEN TO CAPOTE BY COLETTE IN PARIS, 1948
Faceted glass paperweight, the clear dome cut with a circular window and a band of flat printies, enclosing a single white flower above pointed green leaves; the flower of the form collectors call a clematis, though Capote called it a white rose.
LOT 174 · CATALOGUE P. 124
JACK DUNPHY’S OLIVETTI UNDERWOOD LETTERA 32 PORTABLE TYPEWRITER
Olivetti Underwood Lettera 32 portable manual typewriter in sage green, with its case. The personal typewriter of Jack Dunphy, novelist, playwright and companion of Truman Capote for thirty-five years.
LOT 191 · CATALOGUE P. 134
FOLK ART CARNIVAL BEAN BAG TOSS TARGET FIGURE
Painted wood carnival bean bag toss target, cut as a standing figure with an open mouth forming the target aperture, the reverse applied with a printed paper sheet.
LOT 205 · CATALOGUE P. 142
BLACK FOREST CARVED WOOD TRAY WITH FIGURAL TEACUP
Rectangular Black Forest tray, the plain figured panel within a border carved in high relief with oak leaves and acorns, the ends pierced as handles, on low feet. With a cup and saucer in pink tinted ceramic, the cup modeled as a face with wide staring eyes.
LOT 18 · CATALOGUE P. 26–27
BLOW MOLD GOOSE LAWN ORNAMENT LIGHT
Blow molded plastic goose lawn ornament, modeled standing with the neck raised and the feathers worked in relief, painted white with an orange bill and a green molded base, fitted internally for a lamp.
LOT 30 · CATALOGUE P. 34–35
RABBIT IN CABBAGE AUTOMATON, ATTRIBUTED TO ROULLET & DECAMPS
Automaton of a white fur rabbit rising from a green cabbage, the rabbit with glass eyes, a painted red mouth and movable ears, the cabbage worked in painted fabric leaves over a domed body, with a winding arbor at the side and no key present.
LOT 52 · CATALOGUE P. 45
ANTIQUE CERAMIC BOAR
Ceramic figure of a wild boar standing four square, the coat modeled with bristled texture under a mottled gray-brown and cream glaze.
LOT 7 · SHOWN WITH LOT 2
The carved bulldog
LOT 69
Colette's gift
LOT 1
Felix the Cat
With Maggie’s collar
FROM THE CATALOGUE · FEATURED LOTS
SELECTED LOTS
FROM THE CATALOGUE.
Original catalogue titles, descriptions and photography.
The white rose paperweight
A wonderfully odd companion
FROM THE COLLECTION
FROM THE CATALOGUE INTRODUCTION
We are not a conventional auction house, and this is not a conventional auction.
— Auction Daddies, Roy and Carlo
LOT 174
Jack Dunphy’s typewriter
Olivetti Underwood Lettera 32
LOT 191
A carnival curiosity
Folk-art bean bag toss target
LOT 205
A cup with a face
With a Black Forest carved wood tray
A selection of genuine catalogue photographs. More objects to explore when the official auction catalogue opens.
SAVE THE DATE
November
21.
The Magpie and the Swans
The Possessions of Truman Capote
Bellport, New York · Live online worldwide
Online preview and bidding begin October 26, 2026
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