Christie’s to auction items from Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter’s collection

Credit: CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2025

Credit: CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2025

On view at Rockefeller Center in New York City from Jan. 16-22, “The American Collector” sale will also feature some of the late president’s political campaign buttons and neckties; a wooden coffee table he made; his painting of a mountain waterfall; and a pair of scarves emblazoned with peanuts.

A portion of the proceeds, according to Christie’s, will benefit a Carter family charitable organization that “continues to support the projects of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter with a special emphasis on the rural Georgia community they loved.”

The only Georgian ever elected to the White House, Carter died Dec. 29, 2024 at 100. The former first lady died in 2023 at 96. They grew up and grew old together in their hometown, Plains.

The couple’s daughter, Amy Carter, spoke with People magazine in December about the auction, saying the birthday greeting her father wrote her mother was typical of their relationship.

“My mom kept my dad’s love letters close to her throughout her life,” she told the magazine. “They were in her office within reaching distance of her chair when she died. He never stopped leaving notes for her. They spoke every day, no matter where they were in the world.”

Christie’s associate specialist Julia Jones traveled to Atlanta, where she joined Amy Carter in sorting through a storage facility full of items her parents once owned, the magazine reported.

“She was very involved with showing us and kind of storytelling along the way, which gave a lot more context and color to how these objects were lived with,” Jones told the magazine. “Because of that, we can really see this personal narrative that showcases Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter as people, not just as president and first lady.”