Fans of Freddie Mercury may wonder whether they are living in reality or just a fantasy when they enter a quasi-replica of the late Queen frontman’s London home, where thousands of items belonging to him will be on display from Friday. 4).
Rare items including handwritten lyrics, art and collectibles from the singer’s London home, Garden Lodge, have been preserved by his friend Mary Austin since her death from AIDS-related pneumonia in 1991.
They will be shown to the public for the first time in the month-long exhibition at Sotheby’s, which will then auction off many of them in September, with prices ranging from £40 to millions of pounds.
“We designed our gallery spaces to give a sense of what it was like to live with Freddie at home,” said David MacDonald, head of sole proprietor sales at Sotheby’s London.
“If he walked in, he would instantly recognize some of the spaces we’ve created,” MacDonald said.
The star of the auction will be Mercury’s precious black Yamaha piano, estimated at £2m to £3m, on which he composed the epic song Queen’s 1975, “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
Other items for sale range from Mercury’s crown and royal robe, worn at the end of “God Save The Queen” during the singer’s last tour with Queen in 1986, estimated at between £60,000 and £80,000 (between R$375,000 and R$500,000), up to a silver Tiffany & Co mustache comb (from £400 to £600 or between R4 2,500 and R$3,750).
The handwritten lettering for “We Are The Champions” is estimated to be worth £200,000 to £300,000, while those for “Killer Queen” are priced at £50. thousand to 70 thousand pounds (between BRL 312 thousand and BRL 437.5 thousand).
Source: CNN Brasil
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