A major auction by Christie’s dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the United States will highlight the more personal side of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter.
What does Christie’s auction for the American anniversary include?
In 2025, Christie’s is organizing a vast sale to celebrate the 250 years of America, part of the American Collector series. The initiative, linked to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, includes nine auctions and about 700 lots, with overall estimates between 80 million and 120 million dollars.
The sales will take place online and at the Rockefeller Center in New York from January 13 to 18, with public previews from January 16 to 22. In this context, a selection of items from the Carter couple takes on particular significance, intertwining political history and private memory.
What personal items of the Carters will go up for auction?
The auction house collaborated with Amy Carter, daughter of the former president, to identify the most representative pieces from her parents’ private collections. According to Christie’s specialist Julia Jones, Amy guided the team through family memories, providing stories and context that offer an intimate narrative of the couple.
Among the lots are a handwritten birthday card from Jimmy Carter to Rosalynn Carter, campaign memorabilia, scarves decorated with peanut motifs, and furniture built by the former president himself. Additionally, a letter from the President to the First Lady, on White House letterhead and dated 1978, offers a direct glimpse into their relationship.
What is the significance of this auction for the Carters’ legacy?
A portion of the proceeds will be allocated to the Carter Family Foundation, which supports projects related to the couple’s legacy, with a particular focus on rural communities in Georgia. In this way, the transfer of ownership of the items also becomes a tool for concrete support to the area from which they originate.
Amy Carter described the initiative as “a pleasure” to share with the public, hoping that these items will provide a more complete portrait of her parents: their life of service, mutual dedication, and the curiosity that kept them active and engaged into old age.
How do the Carters fit into the broader American Collector auction project?
The American Collector series is not limited to contemporary politics. It also includes works of American folk art, historical furnishings, books, and manuscripts from important private collections. Among these is, in addition to the section dedicated to the Carters, a selection from the collection of the John D. Rockefeller III family.
Overall, Christie’s constructs a cross-sectional narrative of the history and culture of the United States, placing the personal stories of a presidential couple alongside testimonies from different eras, from the American Revolution to the birth of the digital age.
What are the most significant historical lots in the series?
Among the highlights is a rare broadside edition of the Declaration of Independence, printed in July 1776. Alongside this is a signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, a symbolic document of the abolition of slavery in the United States.
Another lot of exceptional historical value is the 1976 contract that marked the founding of Apple Computer, signed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Together with the Carters’ items, these documents show the transformation of the country, from the founding moment of the Republic to the explosion of technological innovation.
What is the biographical context of the presidential couple?
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were married for 78 years, a union that accompanied the entire political and private trajectory of the family. Rosalynn passed away in November 2023, while on December 29, 2024, the former president died at 100 years old, closing one of the longest relationships in American presidential history.
That said, the choice to share domestic items and personal documents through an international auction helps to fix the image of the Carters not only as institutional figures but as protagonists of a family story deeply intertwined with that of the country.
Who authored the original report and why is it relevant?
The report of the sale was initially authored by journalist Rachel King, a news editor for Town & Country and a former editor for nearly a decade at Fortune. Her career includes bylines in Forbes, Observer, Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and Cool Hunting, with a particular focus on travel and lifestyle.
Born in San Francisco and residing in New York with her family, King brings to the narrative a perspective that combines interest in public figures and insight into cultural dynamics. In the context of art and collecting, these skills allow for the connection of market, memory, and national imagination.
As expert in digital marketing, Amelia began working in the fintech sector in 2014 after writing her thesis on Bitcoin technology. Previously author for several international crypto-related magazines and CMO at Eidoo. She is now the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Cryptonomist and Econique.
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