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American philanthropist Brooke Astor lived long, married well, and gave away money with uncommon panache. She also had a passion for animals, from the live variety (dachshunds were her favorite breed of dog) to charming simulacra ranging from modest to museum quality.

The real-estate heiress, who died in 2007 at age 105, lived her life surrounded by a zoo’s worth of creatures, as bidders will see on September 24 and 25, 2012, when her belongings are auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York. (The proceeds, estimated at between $6.6 and $9.7 million, will benefit some of Astor’s favorite institutions, including the New York Public Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and New York City public schools.) Statuettes of a lion, turtle, camel, bull, squirrel, and frogs populated her famous red-lacquer library in Manhattan, while paintings of dogs hung in the stairwell of her gracious house in Briarcliff Manor, New York. A 19th-century porcelain dinner service hand-painted with exotic birds was put into play for meals. Antique drawings of deer and parrots were arranged on walls, a rare Chinese clock in the form of a snarling lion stood on a marble mantel, and novelty cushions bearing the images of various canines were scattered about a sunroom.

Astor’s affection for the animal kingdom did not go unheralded, even at the end. As the mourners gathered at her funeral service in St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue, they heard her Episcopal statement of faith read aloud, and it included the following line: “I want the creatures, the animals, and the birds to be a little less afraid of human beings because I have blessed them and loved them, and far from doing them any harm, I have done them good.”

To see a dozen of Astor’s most exquisite animal-themed treasures, click here.

Plus, read an essay by Astor on the joys of collecting, first published in our March 1982 issue.

Or, find out more about the upcoming auction at Sotheby’s.