Object: Toy Lighthouse, Malcolm Forbes Collection

Malcolm Forbes, the publisher of Forbes magazine, liked to live large. Over the course of his life (he died in 1990, at age 70), Forbes amassed the typical appurtenances of great wealth: yachts, a French château, a palace in Morocco, a Boeing 727 called the Capitalist Tool. He and his sons also amassed superb collections of Americana, Victorian art, Fabergé objets, and toys. Yes, toys. On Dec. 17, Sotheby’s will offer 237 lots from Forbes’ toy trove, including a 1912 electric-powered model of the Lusitania (estimate: $10,000–$20,000)—made in Germany, ironically—and this 1910 pastel-colored, steam-powered lighthouse (estimate $10,000–$15,000). Every magnate, it seems, has a Rosebud. • sothebys.com