The embassy is locating to a facility in Battersea and getting rid of unwanted stock.
The US Embassy in London has relocated to a new facility in Battersea and is auctioning off unwanted items – including a second-hand Volvo, a printer and 1,200 toilet rolls.
PA photo
The online auction, which began on Monday, features 100 Desna toilet rolls being sold in packs of 12 for £255 as part of a 41-lot auction.
An embassy spokeswoman said: “Our new building has different toilet paper dispensers than our previous building.
PA photo
“So we had excess supply from our old building that we are no longer able to use.”
The US embassy recently located from Grosvenor Square in Mayfair to the new £762m new Nine Elms facility in Battersea.
The spokeswoman added: “Our embassies around the world host auctions on a periodic basis as a way of disposing excess property that is no longer needed.
PA photo
“We have guidelines set as to how those auctions are held and where the funds that are raised from this auction go. Essentially, they go back to the Treasury.”
Other lots in the auction include a Bosch circular saw, a ceramic lamp without a shade (£120), an HP laptop (£181), five Dyson vacuum cleaners (priced between £34-£50), 22 plastic stacking chairs with wheels (£102) and a 2007 Volvo (£6,494).
The spokeswoman added: “It’s not uncommon for us to auction off old embassy vehicles in this way.”
PA photo
Other US embassies currently having clear-outs include the ones located in Turkey, Armenia and Ukraine with auctions planned for the sites in Portugal, Serbia and Sweden.
VIENNA (AP) — A portrait of a young woman by Gustav Klimt that was long believed to be lost was sold at an auction in Vienna on Wednesday for 30 million euros ($32 million).
The Austrian modernist artist started work on the “Portrait of Fräulein Lieser” in 1917, the year before he died, and it is one of his last works. Bidding started at 28 million euros, and the sale price was at the lower end of an expected range of 30-50 million euros.
The painting went to a bidder from Hong Kong, who wasn't identified.
The Im Kinsky auction house said that “a painting of such rarity, artistic significance, and value has not been available on the art market in Central Europe for decades.”
The intensely colored painting was auctioned on behalf of the current owners, Austrian private citizens whose names weren't released, and the legal heirs of Adolf and Henriette Lieser, one of whom is believed to have commissioned the painting. It's not entirely clear which member of the Lieser family was the model.
Klimt left the painting, with small parts unfinished, in his studio when he died of a stroke in early 1918 and it was given to the family who had commissioned it, according to the auction house.
The Jewish family fled Austria after 1930 and lost most of their possessions.
It's unclear exactly what happened to the painting between 1925 and the 1960s, a period that includes the Nazi dictatorship. Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938.
The auction house says there is no evidence that the painting was confiscated then, but also no proof that it wasn't. It ended up with the current owners through three successive inheritances.
In view of the uncertainty, an agreement was drawn up with the current owners and the Liesers' heirs to go forward with the sale under the Washington Principles, which were drafted in 1998 to assist in resolving issues related to returning Nazi-confiscated art.
The auction house said it was very happy with Wednesday's result.
The sale price was an art auction record for Austria. The highest price previously paid at an auction in the country was just over 7 million euros for a work by Frans Francken the Younger in 2010.
A man looks at the painting 'Portrait of Fräulein Lieser' by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt prior to an auction, in Vienna, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. A portrait of a young woman by Gustav Klimt that was long believed to be lost has been sold at an auction in Vienna for 30 million euros ($32 million). The Austrian modernist artist started work on the “Portrait of Fräulein Lieser” in 1917, the year before he died, and it is one of his last works. (AP Photo/Christian Bruna)
A man looks at the painting 'Portrait of Fräulein Lieser' by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt prior to an auction, in Vienna, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. A portrait of a young woman by Gustav Klimt that was long believed to be lost has been sold at an auction in Vienna for 30 million euros ($32 million). The Austrian modernist artist started work on the “Portrait of Fräulein Lieser” in 1917, the year before he died, and it is one of his last works. (AP Photo/Christian Bruna)
Attendees take photographs of the painting 'Portrait of Fräulein Lieser' by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt during an auction, in Vienna, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. A portrait of a young woman by Gustav Klimt that was long believed to be lost has been sold at an auction in Vienna for 30 million euros ($32 million). The Austrian modernist artist started work on the “Portrait of Fräulein Lieser” in 1917, the year before he died, and it is one of his last works. (AP Photo/Christian Bruna)
Auctioneer Michael Kovacek declares the sale of the painting 'Portrait of Fräulein Lieser' by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt during an auction, in Vienna, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. A portrait of a young woman by Gustav Klimt that was long believed to be lost has been sold at an auction in Vienna for 30 million euros ($32 million). The Austrian modernist artist started work on the “Portrait of Fräulein Lieser” in 1917, the year before he died, and it is one of his last works. (AP Photo/Christian Bruna)
A man looks at the painting 'Portrait of Fräulein Lieser' by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt prior to an auction, in Vienna, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. A portrait of a young woman by Gustav Klimt that was long believed to be lost has been sold at an auction in Vienna for 30 million euros ($32 million). The Austrian modernist artist started work on the “Portrait of Fräulein Lieser” in 1917, the year before he died, and it is one of his last works. (AP Photo/Christian Bruna)
