NEW YORK, NY.- Bidding opens today for the Anthony Bourdain auction, a collection of belongings left behind by the iconic celebrity chef and television personality who touched people around the world. “Property From the Collection of Anthony Bourdain, presented by Lark Mason Associates, features over 200 lots of personal keepsakes that Bourdain personally acquired during his life and it includes some of his most valued possessions: artwork, books, original manuscripts, home and decorative furnishings, knives, wristwatches, apparel and more.

“Pre-registration for this sale is at an all-time high,” says Lark Mason. “We’ve kept the estimates low so that everyone who loved Tony has the opportunity to purchase something from this sale and know that part of the proceeds will be going to a good cause.”

Partial proceeds from the sale will benefit the Anthony Bourdain Legacy Scholarship at his alma mater, The Culinary Institute of America. The scholarship was established –in the spirit of Bourdain himself– to support CIA students pursuing a semester abroad or taking part in one of the college’s global cuisines and cultures international programs. The remaining proceeds will go to the estate of Anthony Bourdain.

The sale is divided into various categories that reflect Bourdain’s many interests including film, art, cooking, travel, writing and his endless observations of world culture. Exhibitions of select items are now on view at Lark Mason Associates in New York and New Braunfels, Texas, Gallery, as well as at Everard and Company in Savannah, Georgia

Highlights include:

• A Custom Bob Kramer steel and meteorite chef’s knife

• Peter Lovig Nielsen teak flip-top desk, Denmark, 20th century

• Custom U.S. Navy Jacket from the USS Nashville, with a Tony Bourdain patch

• Patek Philippe Calatrava Isochronism Glass Back 18k gold watch

• French Silvered Bronze Bibendum or Michelin Man Sculpture, circa 1950-70

• Ralph Steadman, Lizard Lounge, Silkscreen

• Brad Phillips, What Is My Wife Up to Now, Oil on Canvas, 2017

• Peter Lovig Nielsen teak flip-top desk, Denmark, 20th century

• Chrome duck press from the Paris episode of The Layover (Est: $200–$300)

• Duncan Hannah (American b. 1952), Balcony, Oil on Canvas, 1981

Wrote his biographer and assistant Laurie Woolever: Tony was an enthusiast—of film, of literature, good sharp knives, meaningful mementos of his travels, comedy, contemporary art, and of observing the ways that people lived, ate and loved all over the world. He never failed to be astonished by his good fortune, which allowed him to collaborate with some of his idols—a book cover drawn by the great illustrator Ralph Steadman, for instance, and a GQ photo shoot with rock idol Iggy Pop. Tony loved a well-cut suit, bespoke shoes, a spy novel, a simple omelet, odd medical instruments, old maps, and a tale well-told. He died in 2018 at the age of 61 in France.