The story of Kathryn and Bing Crosby has long formed part of Hollywood’s mythology. Their twenty-year marriage was marked by a shared instinct for beauty, performance and generosity, qualities that shape the private collection Sotheby’s will present this December in New York. Few voices evoke a sense of memory quite like Bing Crosby’s in White Christmas. Its quiet longing and understated warmth have become fixtures of the season. The auction carries a similar note as the famous song: a moment in which history, sentiment and refinement meet in a group of objects that once defined the Crosbys’ world.
A Legacy Carefully Preserved
To honour that legacy, Sotheby’s has worked closely with the Crosby family, ensuring that the pieces leaving their hands do so with the same care that guided their parents’ lives. Kathryn and Bing’s influence on American entertainment is well known – less visible has been the private realm from which they drew inspiration. The collection opens that door, revealing works of art, furniture and jewellery gathered over decades, alongside a handful of rare Fabergé pieces that speak to their eye for craftsmanship and their appetite for stories told through objects.
Swinging on a Star
The sale, titled Swinging on a Star, offers an unusually personal view of two figures who shaped the pulse and imagination of the twentieth century. Estimated at a total of $7 million, the collection will be presented on 18 December at the Breuer Building, Sotheby’s new home on the Upper East Side. Its timing, close to the season that Bing Crosby helped define, lends the event a gentle resonance. Visitors can expect a mixture of glamour and intimacy: a chance to encounter the art and objects that accompanied the Crosbys through their remarkable lives, and to acquire a piece of a story that continues to delight audiences around the world.
A Home Filled with History
At the centre of the forthcoming auction lies a group of pieces from the Crosbys’ Norman-style estate in Northern California, recently sold for $25 million. This was the home where Kathryn and Bing raised their family and settled into a more relaxed rhythm as he withdrew from public life. Its rooms held objects that marked both their daily routine and their most significant moments. Among them is the satinwood piano that appeared in High Society, played in the Cole Porter jazz number performed by Crosby and Louis Armstrong. Later brought into the family home, it now comes to auction with an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000.
For Kathryn and Bing, Fabergé became the language of celebration. Kathryn was drawn to the firm’s craftsmanship, and her first Fabergé gift from Bing was an enamelled stickpin that began a tradition lasting throughout their marriage. Each important milestone was acknowledged with another piece, chosen as much for its artistry as for its sentiment. Seven examples will be offered in New York. They include a pearl-set frame in pale green enamel holding an intimate photograph of the couple; a lilac pill box echoing the Imperial Egg presented by Nicholas II in 1907; and two small creatures – a quartz lion and a sapphire mouse – that capture the couple’s humour and fondness for one another.
Other highlights reflect Bing Crosby’s wider interests and the friendships that marked his career. A rare Patek Philippe dome table clock, fashioned in gilt brass and decorated with a cloisonné enamel scene of a championship golf course, was presented to him by close friends to honour the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Pro-Am tournament created in his name. Part of the maison’s Pendulette Dôme series, introduced in the mid-twentieth century, it highlights Patek Philippe’s command of cloisonné work and carries an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000.
Jewels of Remarkable Provenance
Kathryn Crosby’s delight in Fabergé was matched only by her admiration for fine jewellery, and her collection reflects a discerning eye for both beauty and heritage. The most historically significant pieces in the forthcoming auction are a pair of eighteenth-century diamond dress trimmings from the Russian Imperial Jewels, once owned by Empress Catherine the Great. Crafted by Louis David Duval of Geneva, who served as jeweller to the Empress from 1764 and lived in St Petersburg for more than thirty years, these works survive as rare witnesses to the splendour of Imperial Russia.
The first trimming, dated to 1780, is formed as ribbon-tied closed flower buds set with old-cut diamonds and mounted on gold pins. Its estimate stands at $20,000 to $30,000. The second, also attributed to Duval, takes the shape of a half-open flower, set in silver with gold fittings, and carries an estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. Both pieces were acquired by Mr and Mrs Harry L. Crosby in 1967 as part of an important group of Russian state jewels. Their presence in the sale signals not only the Crosbys’ respect for provenance but also their instinct for objects that hold genuine historical weight.
Kathryn and Bing Crosby
Kathryn Grant and Bing Crosby met at Paramount Studios in 1953 and married four years later. By then, Crosby was already a global name with millions of records sold, while Kathryn, newly arrived in California under contract with Paramount, was at the beginning of her career.
Bing Crosby’s influence on twentieth-century entertainment remains unmatched. A singer, actor and pioneering figure across radio and television, he topped the charts forty-four times, won an Academy Award for Going My Way and appeared in more than a hundred films, including White Christmas and High Society. Kathryn Crosby built her own distinguished path, appearing in over twenty films such as The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Anatomy of a Murder. A familiar presence on Bing’s holiday specials, she later dedicated herself to philanthropy and became host of the Crosby National Golf Tournament.
Final Note
Taken together, these pieces offer a sentimental portrait of the Crosbys’ private world, shaped by artistry, affection and a life lived well and with clear purpose.
The exhibition will be open to the public at Sotheby’s New York galleries in the Breuer building from 13-17 December, offering collectors a chance to experience these extraordinary works firsthand, before the hammer’s final fall on 18 December.
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