Now then, now then, guys and gals – get ready for what must surely be one of the most bizarre collections ever to come up for auction anywhere in the world.
Sir Jimmy Savile amassed an often
bewildering selection of items reflecting a showbiz career which
spanned more than 50 years and featured meetings with the
likes of the Queen, the Pope, The Beatles, prime ministers and
Elvis Presley.
On July 30
Dreweatts will be selling off his memorabilia in 550 lots
at Saviles Hall in Leeds, and the estimated £200,000 proceeds
will go to Sir Jimmy's Charitable Trust, which continues to support
the various good causes he raised money for.
As well as that extensive charity work, the
former Radio 1 DJ - who died last October just two days before his
85th birthday - is of course best known to the public for
presenting Jim'll Fix It and Top of the Pops, and
two of the highlights of the sale will be instantly recognisable to
many TV viewers.
Estimated at £8000-12,000 is one of the
burgundy-coloured Jim'll Fix It chairs he used to
hand out the medals from, complete with an ashtray on one arm and
two buttons on the other which operated two trays - one carrying
the medals and another for his mug of tea...
As it 'appens, Sir Jimmy's legendary
collection of chunky 'bling' jewellery also features, with his
distinctive, nine-carat gold identity bracelet studded with 55
brilliant-cut diamonds estimated at £6000-8000.
Rolls Royce Corniche
Star lot in the auction, carrying an
estimate of £60,000-90,000, is set to be his "immaculate" 2002
Rolls Royce Corniche convertible, with just 4420 miles on the
clock. He nicknamed it "The Beast" and it carries his personal
registration JS 247 (his initials and Radio 1's former 247-metre
medium waveband. The silver Rolls was Number 46 of a planned
limited edition of 56 "last of line" Corniches built to mark the
end of 56 years' production at Rolls Royce's Crewe plant in 2002
and was one of only nine right-hand-drive models made.
But a bargain could be in the form of a
couple more of the immediately identifiable Sir Jimmy items: two of
the original Jim'll Fix It aluminium badges are
estimated at £300-500 each and a number of Romeo y
Julieta No2 cigars, still in their metal tubes, with a
Jim'll Fix It sticker and a promotional photograph,
could set you back just £20-30 each.
The items come from Sir Jimmy's penthouse
overlooking Roundhay Park in Leeds (his home town), his cottage in
Glencoe, Scotland, his other homes, Stoke Mandeville Hospital,
Leeds General Infirmary and Broadmoor, where he worked as a
volunteer.
How's about that, then?
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