Contents of Versace's home sell for 7m pounds

LONDON (AFP) — The contents of fashion designer Gianni Versace's opulent villa on the shores of Italy's Lake Como sold here Wednesday for more than seven million pounds, Sotheby's auction house said.
Over 12 hours of heated bidding, the 545 lots from Villa Fontanelle outside Milan sold for a total of 7,411,919 pounds (10,390,769 dollars) -- double the pre-sale high estimate of up to 2.8 million pounds.

The biggest sale of the day was for the exceptional pair of Italian cherry wood bookcases from Versace's bedroom, which sold for 481,250 and 601,250 pounds respectively -- more than four times their pre-sale high estimates.
Two huge statues of naked Greek boxers Creugas and Damoxenos, plaster copies of Antonio Canova's Pugilists which also adorned the bedroom, sold for 433,250 pounds, more than ten times the top estimate of 40,000 pounds.
Villa Fontanelle was said to be the favourite home of the designer, who was shot dead in Miami in 1997. He described it as "the house that really belongs to me, reflecting a mirror image of all that I am, for better or worse."
Located 30 miles (50 kilometres) from Milan, it was used for lavish parties attended by Princess Diana, Madonna, Sting and Elton John.

One of the flagship lots in Wednesday's auction had to be withdrawn amid confusion over its ownership and fears that it might have been stolen.
Johann Zoffany's portrait of Major George Maule, an English official in India in the 18th century, was estimated to sell for up to 60,000 pounds.
But it was withdrawn after a direct descendant of Maule spotted a picture of the painting in a newspaper and contacted the Art Loss Register -- the world's largest private database of lost and stolen art.
The descendant sent the ALR a photograph of the portrait where it hung over a mantlepiece before it "vanished", a spokesman for the ALR said. An investigation is now underway to establish who was the rightful owner.
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Theft claim halts sale of Zoffany portrait from Versace's Como villa
Major George Maule of the East India Company painted by Johann Zoffany

(James Veysey)
The portrait of Major Maule was expected to fetch £60,000 at the auction

Richard Owen in Rome
Celebrity visitors to the villa of Gianni Versace on Lake Como were often stunned by its opulent Neo-Classical interior and the artwork on display.
What neither the fashion designer — who died 12 years ago — nor his guests knew was that one of his most prized paintings may have been stolen.
Sotheby’s, which auctioned the contents of Versace’s villa in London yesterday, withdrew an 18th-century portrait by the German artist Johann Zoffany after its subject’s family claimed that it had been stolen from their home in London 30 years ago.
Descendants of Major George Maule, the subject of the portrait, contacted the Art Loss Register after seeing a photograph of it in the Evening Standard. They said that they recognised the painting, which was estimated to be sold for up to £60,000, as the one that had hung over the mantelpiece in their family home.
Sotheby’s described the painting in the sale catalogue as “previously untraced and uncatalogued”. Versace is understood to have bought it from a dealer in 1994 or 1995, but it is unclear whether checks were made to establish its provenance. Checks may have proved fruitless because the painting was stolen before the establishment of the Art Loss Register in 1991 and was never added to its list of missing art.
Even if the painting was stolen, Versace’s estate may still own it rightfully. The statute of limitations on stolen work expires after six years in Britain and ten years in Italy, although the buyer is obliged to make reasonable attempts to determine whether the work was acquired legitimately.
Zoffany was born in Frankfurt, but settled in England and became a founding member of the Royal Academy. The portrait of Major Maule — acting chief engineer at Madras — is believed to be one of four paintings he created while visiting there in 1783.
The portrait was one of 550 pieces of furniture, silver, china and artwork from Versace’s villa, Le Fontanelle at Moltrasio on Lake Como, offered at the auction. The sale had reached its high estimate of £2.8 million at its halfway point last night.
The villa was sold last year. Versace, who was shot dead in Miami in 1997, owned several homes but retreated to Lake Como to relax. It was the venue for parties attended by celebrities including Diana, Princess of Wales, Elton John, Sting and Madonna.

Artful dodgers
— In 2005 an American found that six Impressionist paintings stolen from him were to be sold in London. The sale was halted
— Spanish police interrupted the auction of 81 works attributed to Salvador Dalí in January, saying that 12 were stolen
— Fourteen stolen miniatures were inadvertently sold in London last year
Source: Times database