The Music Memorabilia Market with Price Guide
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Musical The Music Memorabilia Market with Price Guide By George Johnson usic genres can encompass a whole swathe of tastes from Mclassical and country through to pop and rock, so it is little wonder that the associated memorabilia and collectables are also wide and varied, as are prices. Whether you are a fan of Mozart or Madonna there is always going to be something that will tempt the right collector. Here is an area of collectables where massive prices can be achieved for very inexpensively produced items by association or fact of previous ownership. Even just the ephemeral scribble of a signature can be worth a small fortune. A word of warning: as with all areas of the collectables market it is prudent to proceed with caution as fake items can be quite abundant, particularly in the area of signatures. Instruments The collectable market in instruments can be divided in to two distinct areas. The first is instruments by famous or highly regarded makers such as Antonio Fig 1. Pete Townshend’s 1972/73 Gibson Les Paul Stradivari or even Les Paul as well as other well known names. Just a few months Deluxe. Christie’s Images Ltd. 2011. ago a violin by Stradivari, Fig 2, was sold by The Tarisio Auction House to raise funds for the Japanese Tsunami. The instrument in question was called Lady Blunt as it was named after its nineteenth century owner, one Lady Anne Blunt who was an Arabian horse breeder and also happened to be Lord Byron’s grand- daughter. It had previously been sold in 1971 at Sotheby’s where it raised £84,000. Forty years later that selling price was dwarfed by the astonishing figure of £9.8million. A great example of how ownership can affect price is the Pete Townshend, Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Gold Top Guitar, Fig 1, which was sold by Christies on the 14th June, 2011. Pete Townshend, the Who’s famous guitarist used this guitar during the band’s legendary Quadrophenia tour of 1973-1975 and it achieved £31,250 on the day. This was quite a remarkable feat as Ron Smith, manager of Wunjo Guitars in Denmark Street, London explained ‘the book price for that particular guitar, without any provenance in 9/10 condition, is US$3300 to US$3600 and we sold one recently for £2,000.’ This amply demonstrates how ownership by a well known figure can affect values. In the same sale a Selmer Trumpet, Fig 3, with original case owned by the late Louis Armstrong sold for £8,125. He gave it to his Harlem musical agent ‘Lady’ Bertha Stewart. The trumpet also came with a letter of provenance, always important if an item is to realise its full potential at auction. The current owner, who submitted the item for sale was also one of Bertha Stewart’s clients and was given the trumpet by her as a thank you for his help in giving elocution lessons to Louis Armstrong’s son, as he suffered from a stutter and also for assisting Mrs Stewart in her later years. As a footnote caution should be used when dealing or buying rare guitars and other instruments as there are many talented people faking these items. Clothing and personal items This is an area which attracts diehard fans and in turn this can mean outstanding prices. Just recently the jacket worn by Michael Jackson in his world famous Thriller video was sold by Julien’s Auction House in Beverly Hills, California for an amazing £1,100,000, not bad for a leather jacket. One of my personal favourites is the mint green jacket, Fig 4, which was worn by the late Fig 2. The Lady Blunt. Robert Bailey 2011. Marc Bolan in the Apple film Born to Boogie, released in December 1972. It sold ANTIQUES INFO - November/December 11 Musical in the Christies Rock and Pop Memorabilia sale on 14th June 2011 for £9,375. At another recent auction held by Julien’s Auction House in Hollywood, California, one of the world’s leading specialists in music and film memorabilia, featured items that were once owned by the late Johnny Cash. The sale entitled Johnny Cash Property from his Life and Career was held on the 5th December 2010 and had over 300 lots of Johnny Cash memorabilia. One of the star lots Fig 3. Selmer trumpet stamped 46818. Once owned was a stage ensemble designed by Nudie Cohn, Fig 7, and was worn by Cash for by Louis Armstrong. Christie’s Images Ltd. 2011. various performances during the 1970s. This was a very patriotic outfit featuring red, white and blues stars attached to his usual black shirt and trousers. When the outfit came up for sale its valuation of US$2,000 to US$3,000 was submerged when the hammer fell at US$13,750. Just to prove how strange the market in memorabilia can be a two-piece bit of the wooden stage, Fig 5, from The Marquee Club, London was sold along with a door from the same club after it had closed for the final time. Although such names as Hendrix, Bowie, The Who and the Rolling Stones had played on this stage it is still amazing to think it was sold for an amazing US$19,200 on the 25th June 2011, not bad for a piece of wooden flooring. Signatures Fig 4. Marc Bolan’s 1972 Apple Film Born to This can be one of the hardest areas to deal in as there are a lot of counterfeits Boogie Jacket. Christie’s Images Ltd. 2011. or fakes. Not all of these ‘un-genuine’ autographs were produced to deceive collectors. Many people would have received a Beatles signature signed by one of the Apple office girls on behalf of the group. This was just a case of time and logistics as so many autographs were requested from the band at the time. There Fig 5. A Piece of The Marquee Club stage. are other types of autographs of which you also need to be wary. An Autopen is www.juliensauctions.com 2011. a mechanical machine that replicates a person’s signature and has been used by some famous names over the years including the autographs of all American Presidents since Eisenhower as well as the majority of NASA astronauts. Another type which could fool collectors is the Pre-print. Apparently there are thousands of these for sale online every single day. These are simply photo- graphic reprints of original signed photographs and for the novice, can be quite hard to spot. The true value of these reproductions is only pennies, so be wary. It is therefore very important, unless you yourself are an expert, to only buy autographed items which come with provenance or at least from a reputable Fig 6. Autographs of the Spice Girls, in black felt dealer. The prices for autographs can vary enormously. For example at Fig 6, a tip pen on single page, and Sid James, signed on set of autographs of the Spice Girls, signed on a single page in black felt tip was single sheet and dated Aug. 28th 1966. (2) sold by Hartleys of Ilkley in October 2010 for a hammer price of only £35. Even Hartleys, Ilkley. Oct 10. HP. £35. ABP: £40. better it included a Sid James signature, dated Aug. 28th 1966. At the other end of the scale a rare signed John Lennon Double Fantasy album sold by Christie’s on June 14th 2011 for £23,750. This album has quite a story to tell. John signed the album on the 8th December 1980 during an interview with radio show host Dave Sholin for a future competition that was going to be held by radio station KCPX. It was signed on the inner lyric sleeve To KCPX love, Yoko Ono John Lennon 1980. He even drew caricature pictures of himself and Yoko. It was then posted by record executive Bert Keane but before it could ever reach its intended recipient KCPX DJ Wooly Waldron, Lennon was shot dead by Mark Chapman outside his home in New York City. Waldron didn’t receive the album for a few weeks, at which point the whole world was morning the loss of the late Beatles legend and the time was not right to run the competition. Waldron packed the album away and forgot about it for the next twenty years or so. When the album was finally put up for auction in the June sale it had an estimate of £4,000 to £5,000 as no one could foresee the interest it would generate. What might have been one of the last items signed by the late Lennon sold for the very respectable amount of £13,750 to a private British bidder. Fig 7. Johnny Cash’s Nudie Cohn Stage Suit. www.juliensauctions.com 2011. ANTIQUES INFO - November/December 11 Musical Music Related Items from www.antiques-info.co.uk 18 1 19thC brass mounted fruitwood bassoon by Wood 13 and Ivy, late Geo Woods, 14in. Gorringes, Lewes. Oct 10. HP: £700. ABP: £826. 5 19 Martin Instrument Co, Set of silver mounted ebony trumpet that once belonged 9 Rare EMG portable wind up bagpipes in a box, a kilt with to the trouble jazz trumpeter gramophone. Island Auction waistcoat jacket & 2 sporrans. Chet Baker, dated 1960, in German violin, bears label Rooms, Shanklin. Feb 11. Chorley’s, Prinknash Abbey original case. Tennants, ‘Reincius Liessem Fecit HP: £1,250. ABP: £1,475. Park. Jun 11. HP: £2,300.