Bea Arthur was good friend’s with the man who became Rue’s fourth husband. It really irked Rue that Bea remained friends with him after the divorce, too! Anyway, here is an original 8″ x 10″ professional photograph from the wedding that shows Bea dancing with the happy (?) couple.
$250 NOW $80!
American Antique Primitive Child's Chair
You can see this primitive child’s chair in the library of Rue’s Manhattan apartment. Rue kept her vintage Shirley Temple Doll sitting in the chair. The doll freaked everyone out, but we all loved the chair. This piece is old, old, old, and obviously handmade. It is distressed, clearly, but that is part of what makes it so beautiful. This is not a chair for practical purposes – no kids ought to sit in it – but it is rare and certainly a collector’s item. Perhaps you could put one of your creepy dolls in it. Sorry, the Shirley Temple Doll wasn’t “creepy,” she was just so big it felt like another person in the room. Anyway, enough about our neurosis, the chair measures 20.5″ high and 14.5″ wide, and over 10″ deep; and it is fragile, so it is going to require some major box and padding activity to get ready to ship, but we’ll take care of everything and it will get to you in one piece. Comes with a couple of images of Rue with the chair in the background and a Certificate of Authenticity from Estate of Rue.
$375
Breast Cancer Awareness Pearl Bracelet [SOLD]
As a breast cancer survivor, Rue did a lot to help raise money for breast cancer research and treatment for the victims of this horrific disease. This freshwater pearl bracelet has a little sterling silver heart and a heart clasp. The pearls are over .5 cm wide and the bracelet is 7″ long. Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity from Estate of Rue.
$114.14
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Rue's Fossil "Coasters" (*UPDATE)
Rue usually kept these flat fossils on her coffee table and used them as coasters. We don’t think they actually ARE coasters – we think they are rare, highly collectible FOSSILS! However, that is what Rue used them for; and we could be mistaken, maybe someone out there is selling fossils as sets of coasters(!). Certainly there are pictures in Rue’s archive that show these pieces on Rue’s coffee table – and probably with Rue in the shot, too – so we’ll look around and post any photos we can find later. Rue’s pair of fossil “coasters” measure about 4″ across each, and they will appear together on the same Certificate of Authenticity from Estate of Rue.
$225
*UPDATE – I found a photograph of Me and Rue gabbing in the living room and you can see both of these “coasters” on the coffee table. One is clearly showing and she has her water glass on the other.
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Rue's Flying Pig Bar Soap Holder
Rue loved pigs. Thus, it makes sense that she would have a flying pig as her bar soap holder. We actually don’t think this piece was made for that purpose because the base is made of a light wood and has NOT done well getting wet every single day (you can see it is kind of lumpy now). However, a soap holder is what Rue used the piece for; it sat next to her kitchen sink offering up various bars of scented soaps to those who wanted to wash their hands for many, many years. Rue’s flying pig stands 7″ tall and it comes with a Certificate of Authenticity from Estate of Rue.
$275
Rue's Signed Cast Photo From "Mama's Family"
You never know what treasures can be found in the files of Rue McClanahan, and that is why EVERYTHING needs to be gone through with a fine-toothed comb. When we first started sorting though all of Rue’s file boxes and file cabinets, it looked like an endless job and it was challenging to keep going after the first thousand or so sheets of paper. However, whenever we would come across a file like this it would motivate us to keep going. Can you believe what was just sitting inside this old manila file folder?! It is an original 8″ x 10″ publicity still from “Mama’s Family” signed by the cast. Rue owned another one of these, which she kept framed and displayed in her office, but we had no idea she had a back up buried in her files! Carol Burnett’s signature is not there, but everyone else signed. Perhaps Ms. Burnett was absent the day Rue obtain all the signatures. Rue and Ms. Burnett got along beautifully, and she certainly would have signed the still for Rue, but Vicki Lawrence and Ms. Burnett, well, maybe there was a reason Ms. Burnett was avoiding the set. Anyway…Rue’s original, signed publicity shot from “Mama’s Family” comes with a Certificate of Authenticity from Estate of Rue.
$1,500 NOW $750
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Rue's Williams-Sonoma Heavy Porcelain Platter
This heavy porcelain platter of Rue’s is bigger than you might expect from the photos – it is 17″ long, 6.5″ wide, and it has a 1.5″ high rim around it. There seems to be some discoloration from a long ago buffet spread at one of Rue’s parties – it looks like tomato stains – but it might come out, we didn’t try. The piece was made by Williams-Sonoma and it comes with a Certificate of Authenticity from Estate of Rue.
$225 NOW $112.50
