Mariah Carey will be going head to head with royalty and super-rich Michael Jackson fans in a bid to land a sofa set the King of Pop commissioned for his This Is It stageshow at an auction in Las Vegas on Friday, June 25.The pop superstar has asked interior designer to the stars Kenneth Bordewick to bid on the item at a Julien's Auction held on the anniversary of the Thriller singer's death.
Ironically, Bordewick also advised Jackson on the furniture for his London home – and flew to Italy to oversee the manufacture of the 22 items that craftsmen at Combustile custom made for the King of Pop.
He tells WENN, "Mariah is very interested in the sofa set, which is expected to fetch $150,000, but I think it's more likely to go under the hammer for $1 million. It was to be used onstage for Michael's This Is It shows – it was crafted using red-crushed velvet, 24-carat gold and Medici stones, or onyx as it's more commonly known. It's a monstrous piece, very Alice in Wonderland, with swags of silk on the back."
And Bordewick reveals Carey won't be the only high roller bidding for the furniture Jackson ordered for his Foxbury Manor mansion in England before he passed away last year – the Sultan of Brunei wants a four chair and sofa item, a replica of a parlour set once owned by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
The two armchairs in the set are expected to fetch $60,000 each and the sofa, which features threads of 24-cart gold, is expected to go under the hammer on Friday for up to $60,000. Both Carey and the Sultan are expected to bid for two Jackson-commissioned ottomans.
It's not the first time the Hero singer has dug deep for an icon's home decor – she splashed out a whopping $662,000 for Marilyn Monroe's piano in 2004.
After purchasing the instrument at a Christie's auction in New York, Carey said, "I could have gotten the Happy Birthday, Mr President dress or whatever, but that would have represented Marilyn Monroe's stardom. The piano belonged to her mother and was a piece of her childhood."
Source: WENN