Callas: Regarded as one of the finest ever opera singers

Among the items was the white mink stole given to the diva by the Greek shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis, before he left her to marry the widow of President John F Kennedy.

But the most expensive item was a tiny oil painting of the Christian Holy Family, sold for $130,000.

Callas regarded the painting as a lucky charm, and refused to perform unless it was in her dressing room.

A pair of her tortoiseshell spectacles went for $17,000 at the Paris sale - double the estimated price - and a hairpiece was bought for nearly $11,000.

The singer would not wear her glasses on stage and admitted she could hardly see her fellow performers and "the conductor not at all".

"On stage, I am in the dark," she said.

The sell-off was a bonanza for two Italian collectors, Ilario Tamassia and Nicolas Petsalis-Diomidis, who bought the items after Callas died in 1977 at the age of 53.

More than 6,000 people have visited the exhibition of the diva's memorabilia over the past week. But only 650 were allowed into Calmels Chambre Cohen's auction room.

Calllas would never wear her glasses on stage

Many of the items on sale languished for years in the garage of a Greek villa, owned by Giovanni Meneghini, Callas' estranged husband.

They were then bought by the two collectors, who were also close friends of the singer.

"I gathered, reserved and admired these belongings, and through them I believe I know and love Callas," said Mr Tamassia.

"But I think it would be unjust if this collection were to remain hidden in my house," he added.

Diva's charm

Most of Callas's valuable possessions were sold off by her family and Mr Meneghini, shortly after she died in her Paris flat, aged 53, in 1977.

Thousands have visited the exhibition of Callas' possessions

It was Mr Meneghini who gave her the Holy Family painting, on the eve of her debut performance in Verona.

So attached was she to the painting that she once sent a private plane to collect the work from where she had left it in Milan.

The cheapest items on offer are a dozen coat hangers, going for $130 each.

Also available are locks of her hair, underwear and even a Pyrex measuring jug, priced at $260.

Scandal note

Collectors were also able to bid for a letter which unravels the mystery of one of the greatest scandals in Callas' career.

The note explains why she suddenly left the stage after the first act of Norma in Rome in 1958.

It explained to the audience, which included the Italian president, that her voice had failed due to illness. But the note was never read to the audience, and the singer was condemned for insulting the president.

An envelope on sale carries Meneghini's handwritten comment: "Maledetta Norma a la Roma" or "Damned Norma in Rome".