More than 1,500 items from the late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury’s private collection will soon be auctioned. These include stage outfits, works of art and handwritten text drafts, said the auction house Sotheby’s. The pieces will be presented to the public in London for a month from August 4th. Some highlights of the collection will also be exhibited in New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong before the auction.
After Mercury’s death in 1991, his collection had remained untouched. The many memorabilia from the singer’s life are still in his former home “Garden Lodge” in London’s posh Kensington district.
This includes a copy of the Edwardian crown, the original of which was handed over to King Charles III. will wear to his coronation on May 6th. Mercury’s matching red velvet and faux fur royal cloak was made by his friend, costume designer Diana Moseley. An auction price of up to 80,000 British pounds (approx. 90,000 euros) is expected.
A previously unknown text draft for the Queen hit “We Are The Champions” will also be auctioned off. The nine-page manuscript could fetch £200,000 to £300,000 (up to €338,000). Also on sale are artworks by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, an old Japanese woodblock print and a 100-year-old Fabergé gem set.
The huge collection is to be auctioned off at six auctions, with Sotheby’s expecting proceeds of at least six million pounds (6.78 million euros). The pieces are being sold by Mary Austin, one of Mercury’s closest friends, who has previously taken care of his collection. She wants to donate part of the proceeds to the “Mercury Phoenix Trust” founded by Mercury’s bandmates and to the foundation of pop star Elton John, both of which are dedicated to the fight against AIDS, Mercury’s cause of death.
“I’ve had the joy and privilege of living surrounded by all these wonderful things that Freddie chose and loved,” Austin said in a Sotheby’s statement. But now it is time to “close this special chapter of my life”. Sotheby’s boss David Macdonald said Mercury’s collection reveals “the singer’s extraordinary creativity, taste and unerring eye for beauty”.
Sources: Sotheby’s, AFP, DPA
