A collection of various holdings owned by the late British star Freddie Mercury will be displayed at Sotheby’s in London, starting this evening, Wednesday, including manuscripts of Queen’s songs, pieces of furniture, paintings and artifacts.
The British singer’s piano, who died in 1991 at the age of 45 from AIDS, is the most prominent piece for sale in Wednesday’s auction, which will be followed by two other auctions, in addition to three online auctions.
Sotheby’s estimated at between two and three million sterling pounds (between $2.55 million and $3.82 million) the value of this Yamaha piano, which Mercury acquired in 1975 and with which he composed most of his works.
The auction also includes drafts of the greatest songs of the “Queen” group, led by the song “Bohemian Rhapsody”. This draft contains fifteen pages revealing the different directions the artist envisioned for this work, which was initially to be called “Mongolian Rhapsody”.
These auctions include a series of paintings that adorned the house of the famous rock singer, including works by Chagall, Dali and Picasso, in addition to the last painting the artist bought a month before his death, which is by James Jacques Joseph Tissot.
All of these belongings were located in Mercury’s home in Garden Lodge, Kensington, west of the British capital.
The auction also includes the door of the house, which is green and full of writings and drawings of fans, especially after his death.
The entire collection is being offered for sale by a friend of the late Mary Austin, who was his fiancee for a long time and who inherited his estate.
And Gabriel Heaton, an expert on books and manuscripts at Sotheby’s, told AFP last month that “Mary Austin lived with and cared for the group for more than three decades” at the Garden Lodge where she was staying.
He added that Freddie Mercury “was not interested in owning a private museum during his life, but he loved auctions,” to the extent that he regularly visited Sotheby’s. He pointed out that Mary Austin believes that the artist would have “loved very much” this auction.
Sotheby’s stated that 1,469 pieces will be offered in this auction. Not only are these collectibles related to Mercury’s artistic career, but they also give a glimpse into his other side and his private life, reflecting, for example, his passion for cats, and for Japan, as evidenced by his collection of kimono and prints, and his love of receptions.
Also on sale are Freddie Mercury’s shimmery stage costumes, colorful Hawaiian shirts and a Superman sleeveless shirt.
Also at auction are a large number of photos, including a figure of Freddie Mercury with a Polaroid camera and another by music star photographer Mick Rock.
Other collectibles of an intimate nature are also offered, such as a collection of poems accompanied by annotations through comments he wrote in his handwriting when he was a teenager, a mustache comb, and others of an amusing nature, such as a group of games, including “Scrabble” for travel, a game that Mercury was very good at.
Before these collectibles were put up for auction, a free exhibition was held for them, which lasted for a month, at Sotheby’s headquarters in London, and the number of visitors reached about 130,000, according to the house.
When announcing the auction last April, Sotheby’s expected its proceeds to reach at least six million pounds sterling, or about $7.2 million.
A portion of the proceeds from the auction will go to the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which seek to combat AIDS.
The house indicated that it is the largest collection in terms of size related to a star or cultural icon since the auction related to Elton John in 1988, in which 2,000 pieces were sold for 4.8 million pounds sterling.
It is noteworthy that the real name of Freddie Mercury is Farouk Bolsara, and his origins go back to a Persian Zoroastrian minority in India, including individuals who immigrated to Zanzibar, similar to the Mercury family.
