Freddie Mercury: ‘A World of his Own’, a never-seen-before trove of over 1,400 of the star’s personal possessions – spanning everything from stage costumes to hand-written lyrics and fine art – all from his London home Garden Lodge, concluded at Sotheby’s in London after a month-long exhibition, and six days of hotly-anticipated auctions. Over 150,000 visitors attended the pre-sale exhibitions.
Together the six sales achieved £40m against a low estimate of £7.6-11.3m. Below you can see the 10 most valuable lots from the sale.
Yamaha Grand Piano (1973), the instrument Mercury used to compose some of the greatest songs of the 20th century: £1.7m / $2.2m – a record for a composer’s piano and sold to a buyer online (offered without reserve)
Autograph Manuscript Draft Lyrics for Bohemian Rhapsody (c. 1974): £1.4m / $1.7m – sold to a buyer online (est. £800,000-1.2m)
Silver Snake Bangle, worn in the Bohemian Rhapsody video in 1975: £698,500 / $881,717 – a record for a piece of jewellery belonging to a Rockstar [the previous record was held by John Lennon’s leather and bead talisman, which sold for £295,000 in 2008] (est. £7,000-9,000)
Signature Crown and Cloak, worn for the final performance during the ‘Magic’ Tour (1986), which ended with Queen’s very last live show together at Knebworth in 1986: £635,000 / $801,560 – sold to Brazilian collector, Rafael Reisman (est. £60,000-80,000)
James-Jacques Tissot’s Types of Beauty, Portrait of Mrs. Kathleen Newton: £482,600 / $609,186 – sold to a buyer online (est. £400,000-600,000)
Ceremonial Military-style Jacket, created for Mercury’s 39th birthday party in Munich (1985): £457,200 / $574,472 (est. 12,000-16,000)
Chinoiserie Grand Piano: £444,500 / $555,936 (est. £40,000-60,000)
The Garden Lodge Door, adorned with outpourings of love and admiration from fans: £412,750 / $521,014 (est. £15,000-25,000)
1941 Wurlitzer Jukebox, acquired by Mercury for his kitchen at Garden Lodge: £406,400 / $512,999 (est. £15,000-25,000)
Notebook with Autograph Manuscript Lyrics for Songs in the Album, ‘Jazz’ (c. 1978): £330,200 / $416,811 (est. £200,000-300,000)
