Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own Sotheby's Auction - PT 1/3

Magic, music, glamour, and history coalesced Wednesday night in London during a thrilling auction befitting the exuberant spirit of Queen frontman. Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own, marked the climax to months of anticipation as the auction rocked Sotheby’s New Bond Street, where nearly 140,000 fans passed through the doors to witness the exhibit before the hammer dropped. Some even came dressed in costume to the sale itself.
Taking place on the UK’s hottest day of 2023, it romped home with a stunning total of £12.2 Million/$15.4 Million, and was a 'white glove' auction, with every lot sold, fitting the late star’s love of majesty and occasion. With nearly 60 lots ranging from precious objects, jewels, art and clothing to instruments, lyrics, and stage-wear coming under the hammer, the sale represented the span of Freddie’s life and passions. Whether it was the music so close to his heart, his unique sense of showmanship and style, his connoisseurship and expertise for objets and antiques, or his zest for Japanese art and culture, this sale represented a richly drawn, textured portrait of the man.
The sale burst into life with a piece of veritable rock history that immediately signalled the very special quality to the sale - the famous green door to Garden Lodge, the portal to Freddie’s sanctuary and a palimpsest of fandom. Aged over the years with scribbled messages from devoted fans, it marked the boundary between Freddie’s public and private life and inspired a fifteen-minute bidding battle, eventually selling for £412,750, more than twenty five times its pre-sale estimate.
At the heart of auction was the life and work of Britain’s greatest rock showman of the 20th century. A selection of lots drawn from across Freddie’s legendary music career detonated waves of excitement in the room, as collectors competed for once-in-a-lifetime items such as the handwritten lyrics for Somebody To Love, (£241,300), Killer Queen (£279,400) and We Are the Champions (£317,500), while the handwritten draft for the lyrics to the ‘greatest British pop single of the past 50 years’ the operatic Bohemian Rhapsody was one of the evening’s highlights, selling for £1,379,000.
The Evening Sale also presented the cherished piano upon which Freddie composed this and many more magnificent pieces of music, his prized 1973 Yamaha G2 baby grand. Purchased by the star when he was on the cusp of stardom and remaining his faithful companion for the rest of his life, the piano attracted significant global interest in the run-up to the sale, resulting in a dramatic bidding battle, eventually hammering down for £1,742,000.
Within the opulent splendour of Garden Lodge was a repository of beautiful art and objects, acquired over the years, each meticulously selected and sited within the house. Mercury was a dedicated connoisseur of art glass, and his Tiffany Seven-Light Lily Table Lamp reached £60,960.
A Guilloche enamel Nephrite desk clock provided another dramatic moment as five bidders competed to acquire the piece, which eventually hammered down at £69,850. Further pieces of exceptional art glass and sculpture included a striking, electric blue Lalique Alicante vase from 1927, that had taken pride of place on the drawing room windowsill in Garden Lodge, which found a new owner at £82,550, twelve times the low estimate.
A key strand to sale was Freddie’s deep enthusiasm for Japan, pre-eminent throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The scope of his Japanese collecting necessitates a sale of its own, however The Evening Sale saw impassioned bidding for several exquisite Japanese objects. Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake (Ohashi Atake no yudachi), the Edo-era woodblock print from 1857, which Freddie acquired at Sotheby’s in 1977, sold to a client on the phone for £292,100, while a stage-worn Kimono from 1976 prompted spirited bids, eventually selling for £57,150.
As the auction progressed, auctioneer Oliver Barker’s rapport with competing bidders frequently spilled over into humorous exchanges between podium and room, as in the case of the Urade Katsuhiko Swimming Carp screen, which he invited a bidder to measure to check it would fit in their home. The bidding moved swiftly upwards, the lot sailing past its pre-sale estimate of £8,000-12,000 to finally splash down at an astonishing £190,500.
Freddie’s art collection was shaped by his discerning fondness for dramatic, colourful compositions and his ceaseless search for inspiration. His especial penchant for Spanish artists, their characteristic light, action and imagination, saw a Picasso print, Jaqueline au Chapeau Noir, which had lived in the kitchen of Garden Lodge sell at £190,500, the Mythology series of Dalí prints come in at £48,000 and a punchy 1969 Miró print, Le Matador hammer for £88,900.

[@MrTerriers3]

Thank you ❤❤

[@My_Weekend_Adventures]

No worries, glad you enjoyed it.

[@americandevo]

Thank you for posting!

[@My_Weekend_Adventures]

No worries glad you enjoyed it.

[@marciebulsaraorcutt]

THANK YOU for sharing this! I live in the U.S., and so am very GRATEFUL for every single peek at this exhibition!

[@My_Weekend_Adventures]

Hey no worries, this is why im starting to film stuff i go to, i do the same like seeing exhibitions around the globe on youtube that i cant attend, wish i could have done a better job and filmed close ups of the stuff and less of peoples backs haha, but it was rammed as you can see, the que was an 1 hour 30 mins just to get in, anyway gives you a ruff idea of how it went, cheers :)

[@lindadouglass4692]

I just came across this. Am surprised there wasn't mire info out there about it.

[@bucho448]

Very sad...