It is, quite honestly, the sale of a lifetime — certainly of Freddie Mercury’s life, at any rate. Ahead of six individual auctions in September, Sotheby’s 16,000ft gallery has been filled with objects that, together, are the relics of the late Queen singer’s extraordinary existence.
The 1,469 lots going under the hammer are the contents of Mercury’s beloved Kensington Garden Lodge house, which he purchased in 1980, lived in during the latter part of the decade up until his AIDs-related death in 1991, and left in his will to his one-time fiancé, and longtime friend, Mary Austin.
Stepping off New Bond Street, under a huge moustache which guards the entrance doors, it feels as if his home has been grabbed, and shaken upside down until every last pottery cat he collected spilled into the 15 galleries. The result is a magnificent, if voyeuristic, glance at the life of one of the 20th century’s greatest musicians.
The showpiece of the sale, all of which is free to be viewed from today (August 3) until September 5, is Mercury’s beloved Yamaha G2 Baby Grand Piano which is estimated to go for £2 - 3 million. He bought it in 1975, and would puzzle through composing the epic Bohemian Rhapsody on it that same year; fans of the song might also be tempted by the golden embroidered jacket he wore to record the track, its Grammy nomination plaque, or, indeed, the handwritten drafts for the song estimated to fetch £800,000 — 1.2 million.
“He considered it to be more than an instrument, it was an extension of himself, his vehicle of creativity,” Mary Austin, who was portrayed by Lucy Boyton in the 2018 Bohemian Rhapsody bio-pic, says of the piano. “There is no question that of all the objects we have, this is the one that meant the most to him,” echoes Dr Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby’s manuscripts specialist.
There are riches to be discovered away from the prize lot, too.
Priceless are the glimpses of Mercury’s private life. Exactly 265 mostly unseen photographs and polaroids, estimated at £5,000-£7,000, document him having a blast; on tour in Brazil, celebrating Christmas at Garden Lodge, experimenting with drag, and posing with his beloved cats. The very fabric of his home is up for grabs, too; from chaise lounges and a glistening, Louis XVI-style mantel clock, to his cutlery and a bottle of red that was never drunk.
Really, there’s everything but the kitchen sink. Ever hungry buyers are raring for that too, though, as rumours swirl Garden Lodge itself will soon find itself on the market. “Garden Lodge is a much loved family home, so the focus now is very much on the collection,” says David Macdonald, Sotheby’s head of Single Owner Sales, in rebuttal.
The most collectable pieces can be found in the fashion and art selection; the crowning glory, naturally, being the costume crown and red velvet cape trimmed with imitation ermine, worn on the Magic tour of 1986. It is estimated at £60,000 - 80,000.
Elsewhere, dive into what feels like a walk-in-wardrobe-cum-vintage shop, full of his tees, three-piece suits and padded, 80s leather jackets; highlights here include the white and red Flash t-shirt from The Game Tour of 1980, and the yellow Champion vest worn for his final hurrah with Queen, in 1986. There are plunging, sequin catsuits, the military-style jacket with armoured epaulettes he wore to his 39th birthday extravaganza, and heaps of battered ballet pumps.
A captivating Jacques Joseph Tissot portrait of a bonneted woman, estimated at £400,000 - £600,000, leads the painting on offer, and joins works by Picasso, from the kitchen, and Matisse, Chagall and Braque, which hung together in the yellow dining room.
Mercury’s infatuation with Japan, which developed in 1975, offers an abundance of artefacts, both furniture and prints from his dedicated Japanese Room, as well as 70 kimonos and bespoke pieces of Japanese clothing; including the red, fan printed kimono he wore to close the 1976 tour of the country in Tokyo.
A handful of more miscellaneous treasures not to miss include a huge, multi-coloured Wurlitzer jukebox, Mercury’s own sketches and the Onyx Carter bracelet reputedly bought for him by Elton John.
“Freddie loved auctions, he wasn’t interested in museums,” Dr. Heaton explains. “He loved Sotheby’s, and was a regular client here. So Mary Austin thought this would be the route he would have wanted. That he would have found all this a blast.”
Do not fear the price tags; immerse yourself in the items together before their irreversible separation next month.
