Bidding Begins at $10,000 for Rare, Intimate Kennedy Family Photographs

Sarah Cascone June 24, 2015 ShareShare This Article

Jacqueline Kennedy with her daughter Caroline.
Photo: Nate D. Sanders Auctions.

A group of candid family photos of John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline, and their children has a starting bid of $10,000 at Nate D. Sanders auction house in Los Angeles.

The 79 never-before-seen pictures show quiet moments of the president and his family at the beach and relaxing at home.

The Kennedy children enjoying a day at the beach.
Photo: Nate D. Sanders Auctions.

Newly-discovered photos of the Kennedys have a recent history of performing well at auction. A batch of 13 long-lost shots from the couple’s wedding sold for $34,073 at RR Auction this past October.

However, JFK’s sailboat, Flash II, failed to attract a buyer at a Heritage Auctions sale in May.

Nanny Maud Shaw with John F. Kennedy.
Photo: Nate D. Sanders Auctions.

In addition to the intimate family snapshots, the auction lot also includes a cream-colored maternity dress that Jacqueline wore when she was pregnant with John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1960.

The collection of Kennedy memorabilia is being auctioned by Maud Shaw, who served as a nanny to the Kennedy children. Shaw’s memoir, White House Nannie: My Years with Caroline and John Kennedy, Jr, was published in London by Leslie Frewin in 1966—in the wake of JFK’s assassination in November 1963. A first edition of the book, with a handwritten inscription from the author, is also part of the sale.

After Shaw retired, she moved to London; at which point, Jacqueline gave her the sleeveless dress.

“The seven and a half years I was with [Jacqueline Kennedy],” Shaw wrote in her book, “she never asked me to as much as pick up a pin for her. Even in the White House, she never once asked me to do anything that was not strictly within my province.”

Bidding ends on June 25.