Remembering Dianne Feinstein

SOME OF THE LATE SENATOR’S FAVORITE THINGS GO UP FOR AUCTION

“You really need to come see this,” texted a friend. She was right.

Dianne Feinstein’s jewelry — presumably just a selection of it — and a few paintings, sculptures and pieces of memorabilia will be auctioned on October 8 by Bonham’s in Los Angeles. You might want to bid on something.

I met the late senator several times around town, but we didn’t exactly move in the same circles. When I arrived in San Francisco in 1992, though, some of the earliest tales I was told were of the horrific day in 1978 when Mayor George Moscone was assassinated at City Hall, along with Supervisor Harvey Milk. Feinstein, then President of the Board of Supervisors, made the announcement to the world.

She quickly became San Francisco’s first female Mayor, and was reportedly a very popular one. Despite losing a race for governor in 1990, she soon afterwards (in 1992) became California’s first female senator — and kept that spot, through five re-elections, until her death last year.

Feinstein had an eye for art, and a particular fondness for scenes of the American west. You can pick up one or two on October 8:

(The Hetch Hetchy Valley by Frank Henry Shapleigh; this & all other photos by the Author)

There are also some pretty spectacular jewels in this auction. In 2003, according to her Wikipedia page, Feinstein was ranked the fifth-wealthiest senator, with an estimated net worth of $26 million. The daughter of a prominent surgeon, she was married to neurosurgeon Bertram Feinstein until his death in 1978; two years later she married investment banker Richard Blum.

So I suspect it wasn’t hard for her to afford a few baubles.

Personally, I lean more toward lighter-weight accessorizing, which is probably just as well. I checked out a few prices in the auction catalog; not for the flea market shopper (which I am.) It’s fascinating, though, to see the assortment of jewels the always impeccably dressed senator had at her disposal.

Or to wonder how and where the very rich keep their jewelry. Diamonds in one vault, rubies in another? Pearl earrings in drawer A, necklaces in drawers B and C according to length or number of strands? Emeralds and sapphires below the color-coordination chart perhaps. Turquoise in a separate cabinet set aside for western-wear occasions. Jaw-dropping values aside, it would take the organizational know-how of a true stateswoman — which Feinstein unquestionably was — to keep a collection this vast at the ready for the week ahead.

If I were going to be bidding, however (don’t worry) the bit of memorabilia I might want to take home is this one:

A calligraphic manuscript by Mark Alynn Kokott (#717, hand-lettered) dated October 5, 1984. Est $200-$300.

__________ … __________

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