Gov. Bill Richardson’s Estate Sale Scheduled for Dec. 16

While no one is likely to fill the late Gov. Bill Richardson’s cowboy boots, folks will get a chance to try this weekend during an estate sale bursting with a variety of the former diplomat’s personal and work effects.

Stephen’s A Consignment Gallery is running an estate sale for Richardson from 9 am to 2 pm, Saturday, Dec. 16 at the Santa Fe Convention Center.

Richardson died Sept. 1 at the age of 75. He served as governor of New Mexico for two terms from 2003 to 2010, following 14 years in the US Congress representing the state’s 3rd Congressional District. He served as US Ambassador to the United Nations from 1997 to 1998 and as Secretary of Energy under President Bill Clinton from 1998 to 2000. In 2008, Richardson sought the Democratic nomination for president, dropping out after Iowa and New Hampshire. He continued to work in international diplomacy following his years in public service through the The Richardson Center for Global Engagement. Approximately 1,000 mourners attended Richardson’s funeral Sept. 14 at the Cathedral Basilica in downtown Santa Fe, including former President Clinton, who eulogized his old friend.

Stephen’s also expects a crowd at Saturday’s sale.

“We’re going to start handing out entry numbers between 7:30 and 8 am,” Stephen’s Owning Partner Domenic Etre tells SFR. “And so people can come and grab an entry number and then leave and go to coffee if they want. We’re expecting quite the turnout…I would recommend people get here early because I think people are going to start lining up for this…between 6 and 7 most likely.”

Etre estimates the sale includes approximately 2,500 items, some of which Stephen’s received just days before the sale and was still in the process of appraising. The sale came together quickly, Etre says, because Richardson’s wife, Barbara Richardson, asked Stephen’s to clean out Richardson’s office at the Richardson Center for Global Engagement because its lease was up. (Center Vice President and Executive Director Mickey Bergman tells SFR via email “The Richardson Center for Global Engagement is operating without a stop helping bringing back hostages and wrongful detainees back home,” though the office at 216 Washington Ave. will be closed).

“So that was kind of what sparked this whole thing,” Etre says. “And then once we went to check out the office, there were absolutely fabulous items. And they all had to go. But…a lot of it wasn’t stuff that we can handle in consignment per se and, so, estate sales can be the best route, but there also wasn’t enough to do an estate sale. So then [Barbara Richardson] went ahead and added some of those other items to kind of make it a bit more of an intriguing event.”

And intriguing it is. And accessible.

“There’s literally something here for everybody,” Etre says. Richardson’s pen collection, for instance, stands out. “There’s probably over 200 or so pens,” he says. “And they range anywhere from $5 to $2,500.” Etre personally has his eye on a few of them. “It is hands down the most outstanding collection of pens I have ever seen,” he notes.

Richardson’s bag collection, Etre says, is similarly impressive. “There’s very fine English leather makers here. There’s Hermès; there’s Louis Vuitton; and there’s also just some really cool old Ralph Lauren bags. And there’s some cool, just leather bags that don’t have a name on it, but somebody made and he appreciated.”

The sale includes Richardson’s boxing glove collection, with gloves signed by Oscar De La Hoya and Holly Holm. The governor owned a suit of armor. An RC Gorman original pastel and rare bronze sculpture of his father Carl Gorman, a Navajo Code Talker. There’s a guitar signed by the Eagles; a serigraph by artist John Nieto; a pair of French 1930s Art Deco chairs.

And of course: bolo ties. Belt buckles. Cigar accessories. Pocket knives. Designer gloves. Designer sunglasses.

“Something really cool I’ve come to find looking at his stuff is he really was like the Ralph Lauren guy,” Etre says. “He appreciated fine style, and really good quality leather products. He was clearly a man of taste.”

Putting together a fast estate sale of this magnitude is well within Stephen’s repertoire. The 40-year-old family-run business (The “Stephen” part of Stephen’s A Consignment Gallery is Etre’s father). That said, overseeing the Richardson sale is still special.

“He was just such an influential character in in New Mexico,” Etre notes. “There’s so much lore; he was like he was a celebrity for our state.”

More items can be viewed on the Stephen’s website, and Etre recommends signing up for the business’ email list for full details because “we have tons of estate sales throughout the year, many of which are extremely exciting.”