Christie’s auction house sold a pair of armchairs that once furnished President Jimmy Carters’ Georgia home for $10,795. Julia Jones and her colleagues from Christie’s auction house looked through hundreds of items that belonged to Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter – paintings, jewelry, photos, silverware and tables – while touring the family’s storage unit. As they were leaving, Jones saw two chairs wrapped in plastic that looked familiar.
After a moment, she realised where she recognised them from. The Carters and Joe and Jill Biden gathered around the armchairs for a photo that wentviral in 2021. The wide-angle lens made the room look like a dollhouse, with the Bidens appearing like giants who towered over the Carters.
The chairs humanized the Carters, Jones said, showing that even they could be caught at an odd camera angle. She selected the chairs to be auctioned, thinking someone would connect with them. Sure enough, when collector Susan Jaffe Tane saw the chairs alongside the viral photo a few weeks ago, she said, “I knew they belonged to me.” Tane purchased the upholstered beige skirted armchairs – which feature a muted-hued nature pattern – for $10,795 (R175 000) on Tuesday.
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She plans to place them in the library of her Manhattan apartment, where she keeps dozens of books related to U.S. presidents. “I saw the picture of President Carter and his wife, and, I don’t know, it just spoke to me,” Tane toldThe Washington Post.
“It’s just a nice reminder that my parents were meaningful to people,” Amy said about the auction, “especially since we’re, you know, in the process of grieving them.” Tane’s passion for collecting began as a child with swizzle sticks, postcards and restaurant menus. At one point, Tane said, she acquired a copy of Poe’s short storyMS. Found in a Bottlethat President Franklin D.
Roosevelt once owned. Tane has long been interested in presidents – she taught her grandchildren the names of them with flash cards when they were young – but Poe’s short story also made her intrigued by books related to presidents.
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