NEW YORK.- Enthusiasm for Camelot continued yesterday in Sotheby's sale of Property from Kennedy Family Homes. Yesterday's sessions brought $2,224,380, bringing the running total to $3,972,000, with one session remaining this morning at 10 am. Bidding was fierce as it became apparent that opportunities to own a piece of Kennedy family history were fleeting. The top lot of the day was Portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy with Caroline and John Jr. (lot 569), from 1968, by Aaron Shickler which brought an outstanding $216,000, more than 18 times the high estimate of $12,000. It was purchased by Philip Nimmo, who works for an architectural and interior design firm in Los Angeles. Mr. Nimmo was bidding on the lot for a Los Angeles client who has collected the artist's work in the past, and had purchased a Shikler Portrait of Mrs. Kennedy in Sotheby's 1996 sale of the Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Joanne Cole of Baltimore, Maryland was successful on several equestrian items including a Padded Dark Blue Turn-Out Rug bearing the monogram "JKO" which sold for $9,000 (lot 520, est. $100/150), a Padded Blue Cotton Cooler monogrammed "JKO" which brought $9,000 (lot 521, est. $100/150), a Brass-Mounted Riding Crop inscribed Caroline which brought $6,600 (lot 527, est. $75/100), and an Aluminum-Trimmed Blue Acrylic Tack chest which bears Mrs. Onassis' monogram and sold for $39,000 (lot 530, est. $800/1,200). "I've always admired Mrs. Kennedy, especially for her love of horses," said Mrs. Cole, who as a rider herself, noted, "This has provided me with such a connection to her over the years, and now it is so wonderful to have an association with her that is so real. My horse Louise will be modeling these blankets, and I'm looking forward to finding just the right place for the tack trunk so everyone can enjoy it."

Carson Kressley, a star of Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, was also actively bidding on many of the equestrian items in the sale this afternoon as he owns horses in Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Having just bought a new apartment, he was looking for "a piece of American history...a slice of Camelot. Something that really means something" for his home. He noted that he "admired Mrs. Kennedy as an equestrienne, a philanthropist, a smart business woman, a mother and a First Lady with a lot of style."

New Yorker Frank Harvey, a long-time Kennedy collector who attended the 1996 Kennedy sale, was the purchaser of Aaron Shikler's oil on panel, Jacqueline Kennedy with John Jr. and Caroline in a Treehouse, which achieved $27,000 (lot 402, est. $5/7,000). Originally from Houston, Texas, he worked on the election campaign for John F. Kennedy from 1959-60, walking the precincts and passing out literature. Mr. Harvey was also the successful bidder of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in a Sailboat, a tiny painting by Aaron Shikler, which sold for $27,000 (lot 165, est. $3/5,000), as well as Breaking Light, Gayhead, Martha's Vineyard by Allen Whiting, which brought $6,600 (lot 155, est. $1,500/2,000), among others.

Yesterday's morning session also included three works by William Walton, an artist who was originally from Jacksonville, Illinois, a close friend of the Kennedys, and a pivotal figure in the President's victories in Wisconsin and West Virginia. Old State, a pen and ink sketch of an estate, inscribed on the reverse, "For Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy from William Walton, May 29, 1963" (lot 318, est. $700/900), which sold for $9,000; Statue of Andrew Jackson on Horseback, inscribed on the reverse, "Andrew Jackson saluting JFK on his 46th birthday" (lot 319, est. $500/700), which brought $13,200; and The Benign Sign for JBK, (lot 317, est. $200/300), which sold for $7,800, were all purchased by Connie and Vernon Massey of Jacksonville, Illinois. The Masseys noted that they bought the works by Walton because of "the connection between President Kennedy and Jacksonville, Illinois," the hometown they share with the artist. The Masseys also attended Sotheby's 1996 sale of The Estate of Mrs. Onassis where they purchased A Political Rally, also by Walton.

Another highlight of the second day of bidding in the Kennedy auction was a charming painting by Jacqueline Duhême entitled Resting Up, London. March 26, 1962 (lot 367, est. $500/700), which depicts Mrs. Kennedy sleeping in brightly-colored floral Porthault linens and was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Bernard J. Carl for the D. Porthault Historical Collection for $21,600. Duhême painted a series of charming, miniature pictures of the trip President and Mrs. Kennedy took to Paris in 1961 and accompanied the First Lady and her sister, Princess Lee Radziwill when they traveled to India and Pakistan in 1962.

Lydia Kennelley who together with her husband has a collection of nautical artwork and other antiques was successful on several lots today including a hand-colored etching entitled Springs of Laurel which sold for $3,300 (lot 447, est. $400/600), a lovely hand-colored etching of a flowering plant which brought $2,700 (lot 453, est. $200/300), and a 19th century leather covered camphor-wood trunk which sold for $2,700 (lot 545, est. $400/600). Mrs. Kennelley commented, "I'm just so pleased to have something to pass on to my children."