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.
![Guild Of Handicraft Piano Sworders Jan 16 2024](/media/99326/guild-of-handicraft-piano-sworders-jan-16-2024.jpg?rxy=0.48491379310344829,0.29656862745098039&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133499836600000000)
Rediscovered Ashbee piano with exhibition history sounds a £16,000 note
17 January 2024A recently-rediscovered version of one of the best known Guild of Handicraft designs has sold at Sworders for £16,000.
![img_19-5.jpg](/media/98797/img_19-5.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133477153740000000)
Bowie lyrics make a stellar result in Merseyside sale
02 January 2024The music memorabilia sale at Omega (28.8% buyer’s premium inc VAT) on November 29 included the handwritten lyrics to two tracks on David Bowie’s 1972 classic The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
![Apple Boutique mural](/media/98715/img_9-2.jpg?rxy=0.315450643776824,0.15762273901808785&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133473677760000000)
Pioneering journalist with a ticket to ride
18 December 2023She was the first female broadcaster to be heard on Radio 1 and the only journalist to accompany the Beatles during a four-day coach trip when they filmed their Magical Mystery Tour TV special.
![Guqin](/media/97391/img_12-1.jpg?rxy=0.5444444444444444,0.265625&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133443422340000000)
Pick of the week: Chinese instruments belonging to a Dutchman who was in tune with China
13 November 2023The Dutch diplomat, musician, writer and sinologist Robert Hans van Gulik (1910-67), also known as Gao Luopei, was a great admirer of traditional Chinese literati culture.
![Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould](/media/97136/fake-or-fortune-mould-and-bruce-bbc-studios-anna-gordon.jpg?rxy=0.47413793103448276,0.31831831831831831&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133432357580000000)
BBC’s Fake or Fortune? expands into memorabilia
01 November 2023The BBC’s 'Fake or Fortune?' is known for discovering artworks – from paintings to sculpture. But for its next series it is expanding into memorabilia.
![img_30-2.jpg](/media/97001/img_30-2.jpg?rxy=0.42190305206463197,0.14444444444444443&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133431350710000000)
Man of letters: correspondence from famous figures
30 October 2023A collection of correspondence penned by leading figures of the 20th century to an Oxford academic raised more than £20,000 for charity at Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) on October 10.
![Harmonicon](/media/95763/img_8-1.jpg?rxy=0.49040139616055844,0.3623693379790941&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133401193890000000)
Pick of the week: Music made with a touch of glass
25 September 2023The phenomenon of rubbing a wet finger around the rim of a wine goblet to produce a note is as old as glassmaking.
![img_25-1.jpg](/media/95397/img_25-1.jpg?rxy=0.49899396378269617,0.416015625&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133395128560000000)
Led Zeppelin album cover signs in at £15,000
18 September 2023A copy of Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy album signed by all four members of the band sold to a phone bidder for £15,000 .
![Rainbow-coloured satin arrow jacket](/media/95086/freddie-mercury-auction-4-2609ne-06-09-2023.jpg?rxy=0.5801011804384486,0.67176470588235293&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133385645030000000)
Killer bids as Sotheby’s shows how the celebrity sale is done
11 September 2023Sensational was the only word for it.
![Freddie Mercury in concert](/media/95072/freddie-mercury-in-concert-2609ne-06-09-2023.jpg?rxy=0.34382022471910112,0.30743243243243246&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133384884600000000)
Freddie Mercury collection: Major sums for lyrics and piano at Sotheby’s auction
07 September 2023The handwritten lyrics for Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and the piano which Freddie Mercury used to compose it were among the major highlights at Sotheby's auction of the singer’s collection in London.
![img_38-2.jpg](/media/94967/img_38-2.jpg?rxy=0.76096491228070173,0.21925133689839571&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133382417990000000)
Reel appeal of Scottish music
04 September 2023A previously unrecorded 18th century manuscript containing 75 pieces of traditional Scottish music sold for £5000 at Lyon & Turnbull (plus 26% buyer’s premium).
![img_39-2.jpg](/media/94557/img_39-2.jpg?rxy=0.46382978723404256,0.19197707736389685&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133370346560000000)
Original lyrics for Elvis Presley's 'Heartbreak Hotel' comes to auction
21 August 2023The original working lyrics for 'Heartbreak Hotel' carry an estimate of $200,000-220,000 at GWS Auctions’ sale titled Artifacts of Hollywood & Music in Agoura Hills, California, on August 26.
![img_14-3.jpg](/media/93451/img_14-3.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133334578070000000)
Very early TV set that’s a must for connoisseurs
10 July 2023The HMV 900 was one of first television receivers designed by the Marconi-EMI Television Company, the firm that also provided the technology for Britain’s first television service.
![img_14-3.jpg](/media/92455/img_14-3.jpg?rxy=0.35258964143426297,0.26160990712074306&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133310411680000000)
Davenport comes with a tuneful twist
12 June 2023A musical ‘captain’s desk’ davenport sold for £9500 at Tennants’ (22% buyer’s premium) Scientific and Musical Instruments sale in Leyburn on May 17.
![img_52-4.jpg](/media/91283/img_52-4.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133274097870000000)
Early 19th century pianoforte makes sound price
01 May 2023Until his death in 2022, the musicologist and collector Rudolf Ewerhart lived in Wassenach, some 20 miles to the west of Koblenz.
![img_15-2.jpg](/media/90101/img_15-2.jpg?rxy=0.761168384879725,0.50138504155124652&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133243891260000000)
Apology from Beatle Harrison to disappointed schoolgirl fan
27 March 2023A letter of apology written by George Harrison after two autograph-hunting schoolgirls got a distinctly unfriendly reception when they turned up on the doorstep of his home took £6100 at auction.
![img_25-1.jpg](/media/89042/img_25-1.jpg?rxy=0.4525939177101968,0.55156950672645744&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133213692970000000)
Music and mechanics in harmony at a Yorkshire auction
20 February 2023Musical automata were the top hits at Tennants’ (22% buyer’s premium) auction of scientific and musical instruments and cameras.
![Jingle Bells](/media/87543/jingle-bells.jpg?rxy=0.48555956678700363,0.46715328467153283&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133161097370000000)
Christmas museum in Korea buys Jingle Bells sheet music at Wiltshire auction
22 December 2022A 19th century printing of the sheet music to the famous Christmas song 'Jingle Bells' sold at a Devizes auction for £15,000.
![img_34-1.jpg](/media/87405/img_34-1.jpg?rxy=0.47773972602739728,0.3519913885898816&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133159205010000000)
Collector interview: Museum plays its part covering the modern-day movers and shakers
19 December 2022ATG talks to two collectors exhibiting works The Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery in Exeter
![img_36-1.jpg](/media/84714/img_36-1.jpg?rxy=0.49581239530988275,0.44827586206896552&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=133092655050000000)
Mechanical creative marvels from a comprehensive collection
03 October 2022From jukeboxes to robotic bands, a comprehensive collection was on offer in Pennsylvania.
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