INGMAR BERGMAN ITEMS SOLD AT AUCTION IN STOLKHOLM FOR $2.6 MILLION

A CHIPPED AND INCOMPLETE CHESS SET BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN FEATURES IN ONE OF INGMAR BERGMAN'S BEST KNOWN FILMS FETCHED ONE OF THE HIGHEST BIDS AT A SPECIAL AUCTION FOR THE LATE DIRECTOR'S BELONGINGS, AUCTION HOUSE OFFICIALS SAID TUESDAY. THE SET, WHICH HAD A VALUE AT AROUND $1,430-$2,150, SOLD FOR $142,000, SAID A SPOKESWOMAN AT BUKOWSKIA IN STOCKHOLM. IT IS MISSING A WHITE KING AND IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN USED IN 'THE SEVENTH SEAL', ONE OF BERGMAN'S MOST FAMOUS FILMS. "IN ONE PART OF THE FILM, MAX VON SYDOW SWEEPS HIS MANTLE OVER THE TABLE AND THE PIECES FALL TO THE GROUND AND YOU CAN SEE THAT THE WHITE KING BREAKS INTO PIECES", BERGSTROM SAID. SHE CONTINUED TO ADD THAT THE AUCTION BEGAN MONDAY AND LASTED FOR MORE THAN NINE HOURS, ENDING IN THE EARLY HOURS OF TUESDAY AND GARNERING A TOTAL OF $2.6 MILLION. ALL 337 OBJECTS, INCLUDING BERGMAN'S WASTE BIN, WRITING DESK AND GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS, WERE SOLD. A RED-PAINTED, DEVIL-SHAPED JUMPING JACK, GIVEN TO BERGMAN BY HIS GRANDSON OLA, WAS AUCTIONED FOR $4,100. A WOODEN MODEL OF STOCKHOLM'S ROYAL DRAMATIC THEATER WITH A TINY MODEL OF THE LEGENDARY DIRECTOR SITTING INSIDE IT, SCORED THE HIGHEST BID OF $147,500. BERGMAN HEADED THE THEATER FOR SEVERAL YEARS IN THE MID-1960s. BERGSTROM CALLED THE AUCTION "HISTORIC", SAYING THAT EVEN THOUGH THE HAMMER PRICES WERE EXPECTED TO BE HIGHER THAN ESTIMATES, THEY STILL EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS. "AND BECAUSE IT'S HIM, INGMAR BERGMAN, IT INFLATES THE PRICES A BIT, OF COURSE." ALL THE PROCEEDS WILL GO TO BERGMAN'S FAMILY ACCORDING TO A SOURCE AT THE AUCTION HOUSE. BERGMAN INSISTED IN HIS WILL THAT HIS ASSETS BE AUCTIONED OFF TO PREVENT THEM FROM BEING CAUGHT UP IN "SOME KIND OF EMOTIONAL HULLABALOO". BERGMAN DIED 30.JULY AT THE AGE OF 89 IN HIS HOME ON THE BALTIC SEA ISLET OF FARO. HIS FILMS WON NUMEROUS INTERNATIONAL AWARDS, INCLUDING BEST FOREIGN FILM OSCARS FOR "THE VIRGIN SPRING", "THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY" AND "FANNY AND ALEXANDER". HIS 84 ACRE FARO PROPERTY IS ALSO UP FOR SALE IN A PROCESS MANAGED BY CHRISTIE'S GREAT ESTATES IN LONDON.