Anthony Bourdain auction: some of celebrity chef’s most cherished possessions to go on sale next month
- Art by Ralph Steadman and a custom-made chef’s knife by master bladesmith Bob Kramer will be some of the items available for fans to buy
- All money raised will go to his family and the Culinary Institute of America
More than 200 items owned by television star and food and travel icon Anthony Bourdain are being put up for auction 15 months after his death.
The online auction, which will take place in October, should bring in between US$200,000 and US$400,000, according to auctioneer Lark Mason.
The proceeds will go mainly to helping support Bourdain’s family: his ex-wife Ottavia Busia, and daughter, Ariane. Forty-per cent of the auction earnings will go to establishing a new scholarship named for Bourdain at the Culinary Institute of America for the study of international topics in food, and – in the spirit of globetrotting Bourdain – to give the recipient a chance to study abroad.
Bourdain, then a New York-based cook, gained fame as the bad boy of the kitchen with the publication of his first tell-all book, Kitchen Confidential, in 2000.
In the years that followed Bourdain became a television star with shows such as A Cook’s Tour, No Reservations and his final show, Parts Unknown.
In that time, his bad boy image mellowed and he became an auteur, turning out artful television highlighting the world’s common humanity, and the power of food to bring us all together.
He became beloved around the world for his openness, humility, and boundless curiosity. Later in his life, Bourdain became a vocal supporter of the #MeToo movement and publicly disavowed the toxic culture in the kitchen that his early work had helped to engender. He took his own life in France in June of last year.
Many of the auction’s 215 lots will be recognisable to fans of the show: from his beloved duck press to art by Ralph Steadman who is famous for his illustrations of Hunter S. Thompson’s books, and who provided the cover for Bourdain’s cookbook, Appetites.
The most expensive item on the auction block is fittingly a custom-made chef’s knife by master bladesmith Bob Kramer, crafted from steel and actual meteorite.
In his life, Bourdain was always quick to say that he wasn’t a chef, but he was proud of his craft as a writer. Fellow writers are likely to be drawn to the original manuscripts up for auction, and most of all to the author’s writing desk: an elegant mid-century modern number from Peter Lovig Nielsen, expected to fetch between US$800 and US$1,200.
