Hundreds of memorabilia belonging to the late magic duo Siegfried and Roy are to be auctioned in California.
The proceeds from the “Siegfried & Roy: Masters of the Impossible” auction planned for June will go to the SARMOTI foundation founded by Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn to protect endangered animals, the Bonhams auction house in Los Angeles announced.
“This is a unique opportunity to glean a little magic from the lives of these incredible entertainers and humanitarians,” Bonhams staffer Helen Hall said in a statement.
Among the more than 500 pieces are jewelry, costumes and mementos of the illusionists’ decades-long stage career with their exotic wild cats and furniture from their villas Jungle Palace and Little Bavaria in the casino city of Las Vegas.
Among the highlights of the auction, Bonhams lists a Cartier diamond necklace with an estimated value of up to $100,000. A pendant in the shape of a tiger’s head is estimated at $3,000, and an elephant sculpture by Salvador Dalí might fetch more than twice that. The duo’s blue satin suits from the 1980s are priced at up to $3,000.
Born in Rosenheim, Fischbacher died of cancer in January 2021 at the age of 81. Horn from Nordenham near Bremen died in May 2020 at the age of 75 from a Covid 19 infection. “Siegfried & Roy” were world-famous for their performances with white tigers and lions and wrote show history in Las Vegas. The duo’s career ended there in October 2003 when a tiger inflicted serious injuries on Horn at a performance from which the tamer never fully recovered.
