The estate of the late Beverly Sills will be auctioned off next week in New York (where it's open for public viewing from today if you happen to be around).
Amongst the endless chairs, cutlery and chandeliers, the five fur coats, the signed memoirs of Richard Nixon and enough Judith Leiber bags to open a branch store are numerous fascinating pieces of opera memorabilia. Loads of photos of course, plus original costume design sketches (the one below is for Olympia),
the odd piece of odd art (below is Ms Sills in Roberto Devereaux),
and music, including a collection of her personally-notated scores (below).
And there's a surprise too. Beverly Sills is not a name one immediately associates with Wagner, but she appeared as Gerhilde in San Francisco Opera's 1953 Die Walkure.
"Helmet, studded bronzed aluminum, with sheet-metal wings welded to sides, padded sweatband" may well be the only souvenir:
