Elizabeth Taylor’s personal treasures set for auction block

NEW YORK: Internationally known for her lavish lifestyle and glam taste, silver screen siren Elizabeth Taylor also boasted a playful side, and now some of her personal effects that bared it are hitting the auction block.

Items including a gold vermeil link belt, a sumptuous silk caftan and a studded black leather Versace biker jacket belonging to the late Hollywood legend will travel across the Atlantic on the famed Queen Mary 2 ocean liner, giving guests a first glimpse at Taylor´s treasures.

Following the actress´ death in 2011 at age 79, a week-long Christie´s auction in New York of her vast collection of luxury dresses, jewels and fine art saw total sales topping $156 million.

But this time the items anticipated to go for a wide range of price points show the side of a larger-than-life woman — known for starring roles in classics like “Cleopatra” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” — her closest friends and family knew.

“The icon on screen isn´t the grandmother that I would hang out with around the house,” said her grandson Quinn Tivey, a 33-year-old artist who is an ambassador for The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

“I don´t really know Elizabeth Taylor the celebrity,” Tivey told AFP aboard the enormous ocean liner his grandmother frequented, on which he will make the week-long journey with the preview of her items.

“To me she was just grandma.” Martin Nolan — the executive director of Julien´s Auctions, which is hosting the sale — says some items like Taylor´s scarves or costume jewelry carry pre-sale estimates of $200 to $400, meaning not only institutions and members of the upper crust will have a chance at taking something home.

“I think people will be surprised that they will be able to actually acquire and afford to have something from the amazing Elizabeth Taylor,” he told AFP.