Art from Lehman Brothers European offices for sale

LONDON (AP):

Fancy a credit-crunch keepsake or a meltdown memento?

Artworks, objects and office signs from the European offices of Lehman Brothers are being auctioned to help pay creditors of the failed investment bank, Christie's auction house said Monday.

The September 29 sale in London will feature works by modern artists including Gary Hume and Lucian Freud, a selection of maritime and sporting paintings, and a variety of tea caddies, cigar boxes and Chinese ceramics. It is expected to raise about 2 million pounds (US$3.2 million).

Buyers can bid on the sign that adorned the bank's British headquarters in London's Canary Wharf, valued at 2,000 pounds to 3,000 pounds, or the plaque commemorating the opening of the building in 2004 by Britain's then-Treasury chief, Gordon Brown, valued at between 1,000 pounds and 1,500 pounds.