By: Daiyu Tang
Dear reader, in my capacity as Hathian Museum employee and attending journalist I am pleased to report the results of the auction, the so-called ‘Luxe of Lunacy‘ hosted by the Asylum.
With a grand total of $2.7m raised for the renovation fund, it can certainly be said that the town is richer than imagined and that the Asylum could, if funds are used correctly rival Hathian General Hospital (‘HGH’) for facilities!
The Hathian Museum & Galleries was decorated by our professional design team and looked, in my view anyway, fantastic int he Asylum black and red theme. We also commissioned and brought from storage over twenty new artworks inside the ground floor gallery. Each has a notecard with a description and we encourage those who didn’t visit to swing by this week before any changes happen.
Results By Lot
DJ Poppy took a break from the decks to host the action and started the bidding with her usual style. While the first lot might have gone for little, keep reading and you’ll see some truly astronomical figures… We know who is paying for Christmas in Hathian this year for sure!
Poppy: “To start us off, we have the Warden’s Cologne! Warden Christopher Montgomery met his end during the asylum riot of 1937. He had been skinned, gutted, and his entrails were found clogging a sausage-making machine. His dismembered body parts were scattered across the grounds, but the most chilling detail was the lingering scent of his cologne, overpowering even the smell of blood and death. So, do I hear $100?”
The winner for this lot at $275 was a ‘Gorgeous Lady in Red’, otherwise known as Eliany who was heard to say: “That’s the only male cologne I’m gonna sniff in a while” – sounds like someone is in need of a date
Poppy: “Next up, we have a possessed puppet! In a dimly lit corner of one of the asylum’s now empty rooms, shadows cling like malevolent spirits around an abandoned puppet, unlike any other. It’s wooden face bore a sinister smile, its dark button eyes holding a malicious glare that seemed to follow any that dared to glance its way. Starting us off at $50… do I hear $50? Don’t be shy!”
The bidding was fierce for this lot, with many people involved.
The first large bid came from who we identify as Oungan Mankus who went in with $750, but this rapidly started to increase. A lady identified as Sydney chimed in for $1,500 before a bidding war broke out between a Doctor and many others. Who’d have thought a dirty puppet was worth it, but Sydney raised her bid up to $25,000 before the hammer eventually fell at $60,000 to the Doctor in purple…
Poppy: “Moving on, I am happy to present you with the Lunatic Leaguers’ Baseball Glove! It was the summer of 1903. Dr. Elias Thornton, a progressive psychiatrist, believed in the therapeutic power of sports. He gathered the patients—each with their own demons—and formed the ‘Lunatic Leaguers,’ the asylum’s first baseball team. Let’s start us off at $100. Do I hear $100?”
After the shock of $60k, I was hoping that the museum might be able to acquire this item… it would depend on the bidding.
Bidding started a little more slowly and as the museum’s representative I hoped that a bid of $1k would now be sufficient to take home a little piece for the Museum’s Board of Directors. Never-the-less, the Dr. in purple started bidding against me and that started the room off… getting to $1,260 before it was sold again to the same individual. It has to be said he then taunted me a bit after! Nevermind, it was all for a good cause…
Poppy: “Next one is rather special. It’s Nurse Salvion’s Uniform. Nurse Salvion, a 24-year-old with a passion for healing, was diagnosed with psychotic episodes. Believing she could cure herself and others, she began working at Laveau Asylum. At first, she followed standard procedures, but her methods grew darker. She started using nails to perform brutal lobotomies, driving them into patients’ brains, killing them each time. Give your loved ones a lobotomy today! Starting this one off at $500, do I hear $500?”
This was one of the star lots, so bidding was expected to be fierce and it didn’t disappoint…
Bidding rapidly passed between a number of women, including Bethari, Sydney again and others. Sadly, the museum was already not able to grab this one lot. Conserving fabric is expensive so we had to withdraw, which considering the final price of $9,000 to a new female bidder, Scarlet.
Poppy: “And now, for some real tools of destruction and healing. We’ve got an original Laveau Asylum Medical Kit! The kit was said to be possessed by the sinister spirit of a long-deceased Doctor, who had once tended to patients with a cold, cruel efficiency. I’m feeling a little chaotic. Do I hear $1000?”
This was one for the museum, or at least that’s what I thought. We’d love to have displayed this as a historical artefact.
This one then went crazy, here is the bidding record, carefully transcribe so you can actually see it and believe it, not just read the final number…
Sydney (Bidder 1): “$10,000!”
Scarlet (Bidder 2): “$11,000”
Bidder 1: “I bid $20,000”
Brooke (Bidder 3): “$37,250!!!!”
Bidder 1: “I Bid $50,000!”
Bidder 2: “$60,000”
At this stage Bidder 3 dropped out, but there were still 16 bids between the $60k and the final hammer price… of wait for it $2,000,000.
Poppy: (after a long dramatic pause…) “GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE, GONE FOR $2 MILLION – wait two million? In this economy? Damn. Congratulations to the lady in the ombre dress, Sydney!”
Poppy: “And for the grand finale, we have Dr. Grimwald’s Lobotomy Chair! Dr. Victor Grimwald’s laboratory was hidden deep within the bowels of Laveau Asylum, a place where even the echoes feared to tread. The centrepiece of his dark domain was a monstrous chair, cold, metallic, and unforgiving. Its design was both meticulous and malevolent, with heavy straps to bind the limbs and head, ensuring that no one could escape its grip. Since you guys seem to have… deep pockets. Why don’t we start this one off with a bang at 10k? DO I HEAR 10K?”
What would the centrepiece fetch? Well, after over thirty bids between various parties, including a few rather sheepish initial bidders who lowered their hands as others shouted big figures (caught you there Hiroshi!) the chair reached a final $650,000 and was sold to Scarlet.
The Total
This is rather unbelievable to discuss this, but from the bidders assembled a massive $2,720,535 was raised through the action. These funds will be used by the Asylum for their rebuilding projects.
