Musical Instruments & Memorabilia
The craftsmanship involved in the most prized musical instruments affects the quality of sound they produce as well as their appearance. For example, string instruments made by the Italian Stradivari family – and particularly Antonio Stradivari – in the 17th and 18th centuries are said to produce a sound that has never been replicated even in similar designs.
Those instruments created by Antonio during his ‘golden period’ (1700-1720) command particularly strong prices. More recent instruments, such as electric guitars played by pop music giants of the 20th century also pull in large prices – such as Jimi Hendrix’s Woodstock Stratocaster, which was bought for a Seattle museum for $2m.
Courts hand down sentences to auction house raiders
16 September 2013The organiser of a string of burglaries that targeted various auction houses claimed a Klotz violin taken from a saleroom and then discovered at his home had actually been found in a skip.
Amati violin hits the right note at inaugural auction
23 May 2013The inaugural sale held by new London-based musical instrument auctioneers Ingles & Hayday generated a £2.26m total from 150 lots.
Rediscovered Beach Boys archive comes to auction with $10m price tag
02 April 2013With a $10m estimate, what is being billed as the most important single lot of rock and pop memorabilia ever to come up for auction goes on view in London on April 18.
Elvis and The Beatles top charts again
02 April 2013If ever there was a single record that could lay claim to truly starting the Rock and Roll era, it must be Elvis Presley’s first single ‘That’s all right (Mama)’, recorded in Memphis in July 5, 1954.
Buffs tune in to Marconi’s answer to a radio rival’s jibe
18 January 2013When in 1903 the Marconi Wireless Company began a public demonstration of its systems, an unwelcome message began to appear via the Morse printer: “There was a young man from Italy, who diddled the public so prettily…”
Swiss musical bird box in Hampshire
21 December 2012Included in George Kidner’s sale in Lymington, Hampshire on January 10, is this 19th century Swiss enamelled musical bird box decorated with landscape scenes.
George Harrison’s jacket tops The Beatles lots at Bonhams
15 December 2012When it comes to rock and pop memorabilia, and The Beatles in particular, if the provenance is not only right but of the first magnitude, prices can soar.
£110,000 of antique violin bows go missing
22 October 2010A COLLECTION of 11 antique violin bows valued at £110,000 is now feared stolen after they were left on a train.
Soul single sets new record price
20 May 2009FRANK Wilson's Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) is generally ranked by enthusiasts of Soul music as a very good rather than a great single, but in the collecting community it has acquired legendary status. Only two copies of the original pressing appear to have survived.
Online bidding takes a bow
10 November 2008THIS cello by William Forster, London c.1780 became the highest value lot sold through ATG's online bidding service the-saleroom.com when it brought £38,000 (plus 20 per cent buyer's premium) at musical instrument specialists Brompton's on November 3.
Beatles tape found in attic makes £10,000
18 August 2008A previously unheard tape of a Beatles recording session, in which John Lennon and Paul McCartney break into giggles and crack jokes, has fetched £10,000 at Cameo auctioneers in Midgham, Berkshire.
Nat Temple horns for sale in Surrey
21 July 2008Woking, Surrey auctioneers Barbers are to sell musical instruments belonging to the late Nat Temple (1913-2008) on August 4.
Private treaty sale beats auction record for violin
03 March 2008Sotheby’s have announced the private treaty sale of a Guarneri del Gesu violin to the Russian businessman and collector, Maxim Viktorov.
£19,000 bird in the hand
28 August 2007Kent’s Canterbury Auction Galleries were one of the few salerooms to hold a good quality art and antiques sale in August.
Lennon for sale
27 November 2006A set of 38 individual original metal printing plates used for the illustrations for John Lennon’s first book, are to go under the hammer on December 2 at Dickins of Middle Claydon, Bucks.
A provincial Stradivari for £1m?
30 October 2006A Stradivari violin, which has been played in concert halls all over the world, is being offered for sale by Corsham-based auctioneers Gardiner Houlgate in London on November 6.
Spink now have a musical string to their bow
12 October 2006Spink have added musical instruments to their portfolio by taking an equity stake in Brompton’s Auctioneers. They will operate from Spink’s newly expanded premises at 29 Southampton Row in London WC1, starting with a sale on November 6.
Accessible Sneltzer pipes a £19,000 tune
27 February 2006As reported in ATG No 1724, January 28, Kent Auction Galleries (15% buyer’s premium) of Folkestone were selling this mid-18th century organ by John Sneltzer on February 11 on behalf of The Caldecott Foundation, a charitable organisation.
Style and substance: how multiple attractions helped piano hit high note
04 January 2005STROHMENGER’s stylish Art Deco pianos are self-evidently pieces with huge crossover appeal. Being chic furnishings as well as useful musical instruments, they tend to give strong performances in the saleroom when they appear.
Stolen instruments appeal
08 September 2004THE owners of a mid-18th century cello by Tomasso and Lorenzo Carcassi of Florence have appealed for its safe return following a theft in North Finchley.
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