Twenty-five years ago, the Communist Party politburo ordered a bespoke set of rosewood, walnut and cherry wood furniture as a birthday present for former Romanian leader Nicolae Ceausescu.
But Ceausescu never received the gift. He and his wife were executed during the Dec. 1989 anti-communist revolt, a month before his 72nd birthday.
IMAR, the company in western Romania which has making furniture since 1890 and once made pieces for Romanian kings, is auctioning off the 3-ton wooden pieces which took eight months to craft at a starting price of 50,000 euros ($69,000).
Marian Gusatu, IMAR’s general manager, said Monday the company was insolvent and was downscaling.
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On the Net: www.imar-sa.ro
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AP-WF-03-24-14 1248GMT
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