Playboy magazine artworks including Marilyn Monroe swimming nude and supermodel Elle Macpherson naked have fetched almost £2 million at auction.
Iconic pictures of Playmates Elle Macpherson, Cindy Crawford, Bo Derek and Marilyn Monroe were among 85 lots that went under the hammer for a total of £1,837,618 in New York.
The top seller was Tom Wesselmann's 'Mouth' - a pop art image of a smiling, lipsticked mouth, which sold for £1,186,392.
The huge cut-out mouth painting was commissioned by the adult magazine in 1966 and intended to be glossy yet sexually inviting, according to the artist.
A wooden Playboy rabbit head logo created by artist Roger Brown sold for £31,646.
Dozens of photos of naked supermodels with Hefner's initials on some of the layouts he signed off also sparked a bidding frenzy.
Sexy shots of screen siren Marilyn Monroe taking a swim nude and then towelling herself off in 1964 raised £15,823.
A 1958 cover photo of topless Brigitte Bardot went for £15,032 while 1991 photos of Stephanie Seymour frolicking in the sea made £14,241.
Cindy Crawford holding her breasts and other 1988 prints of the American supermodel by photographer Herb Ritts went for £13,449.
Classic 1994 black and white shots of Elle 'The Body' MacPherson posing nude fetched £7,500.
The Christie's auction, which marked the magazine's 50th anniversary, was called The Year of the Rabbit: The Playboy Collection.
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