Freddie Mercury – the lead singer of the rock band Queen – is known across the world for his musical prowess (he’s the musical brains behind songs like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘We Will Rock You’), his eccentric stage costumes and, towards the end of his life, his work to raise public awareness of the disease AIDS, from which he ultimately died in 1991.
Freddie lived in Kensington, in an Edwardian house originally built for the painter Cecil Rae and his wife, the sculptor Constance Halford. He was a keen collector. Be it costumes, art, furniture or books, the house was filled with a mixture of things which ultimately summed up who he was: a man who loved beautiful things and liked a showcase. Behind the house is a large, Japanese walled garden, which was filled with flowers by Freddie’s boyfriend, Jim Hutton.
When he died, he left the house to his good friend Mary Austin, along with the bulk of his estate. Now, over thirty years later, Mary is hosting an auction of his belongings through Sotheby’s auction house, and there’s an exhibition of all of the lots to boot. Queues of Queen and Mercury’s superfans are swarming into London, waiting up to two hours to view the exceptional display.
Amongst highlights are the Yamaha grand piano on which he composed Bohemian Rhapsody, which he bought for around £1,000 in 1975 and is now expected to sell for between £2 -3 million, an original draft of the lyrics and musical score for ‘We are the Champions’ from 1977, and an opulent 19th-century Italian gilt-bronze and ebony centre table. The impressive piece of furniture was made as a collaboration between two celebrated florentine artists: the wood carver Angiolo Barbetti and the mosaicist Gaetano Bianchini, the former of whom is suggested to have created the base of the table, and the latter, the top.
There’s artwork, and plenty of it. A keen fan of art from across the globe, the exhibition includes a woodblock print by the Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige; ‘Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake’, a white marble and bronze bust of Diana by the French Sculptor Henri Weigele, and a 20th century print by the Joan Ferrer Miró.
The exhibition has been an unprecedented success, with queues spanning 400m in length and those in it bursting into song in tribute of the great musician. Fans have reportedly flown in from as far as Japan and the US to see the spectacle, which features immersive galleries. In the month that the exhibition has been open to the public, it has amassed more visitors than any other show dedicated to an icon in the city and the bids are flooding in already. A Tiffany moustache comb with an estimate of £400-600 is already up to £30,000 in bids, while an acoustic guitar belonging to Mercury has exceeded the estimate ten times, now on £20,000.
The sale begins on Wednesday 6 September and is set to be huge, given just how incredibly popular the exhibition has been. The exhibition will close on September 5 and queues are expected to be long in the final two days – but worth it.
'Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own' is open from the 4th August to 5th September. The sale begins on 6th September. For more information, visit sothebys.com.
