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.
![Schumann manuscript](/media/35110/schumann-bonhams-2366.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131853861490000000)
Rediscovered Schumann piano masterpiece comes to auction at Bonhams
31 October 2018Bonhams is to offer an extensive handwritten draft of Robert Schumann’s 1837 piano masterpiece Fantasiestücke Opus 12 – written in the composer’s own hand.
![WEB duran subastas baroque guitar.jpg](/media/34353/web-duran-subastas-baroque-guitar.jpg?rxy=0.5,0.50064350064350061&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131838268800000000)
Five musical options in tune at auctions in the UK and US
15 October 2018Five auctions coming up featuring lots on a musical theme.
![Maurice Gibb](/media/33074/gibb-guitar-bee-gees-pic-2359nedi.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131812401530000000)
Bidders queue up for a slice of Bowie, the Bee Gees, The Beatles and Rod Stewart at auction this week
13 September 2018Rod Stewart’s leopard print armchair, David Bowie’s first studio recording and Bee Gee and Beatles guitars have all been snapped up by fans of the rockers this week.
![img_11-3.jpg](/media/32643/img_11-3.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131802754000000000)
Gardiner Houlgate auction offers guitars galore including the acoustic that set the Bee Gees on route to stardom
03 September 2018Gardiner Houlgate in Wiltshire is dubbing its upcoming sale “the UK’s largest-ever auction of guitars”.
![img_41-1.jpg](/media/31483/img_41-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131767654900000000)
Rare Beatles poster among highlights at Dallas movie sale
23 July 2018A rare set of four door panel promotional posters for 'Help!', the Beatles’ second film, will form part of a movie poster sale to be held by Heritage Auctions on July 28-29.
![img_14-1.jpg](/media/30275/img_14-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131743984240000000)
Keyboard instrument collectors tune up and turn up
25 June 2018Putting a third major collection of highly specialist and highly priced material onto the market within little over three years might seem to be asking too much of a limited number of wealthy enthusiasts.
![img_15-2.jpg](/media/30280/img_15-2.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131743994480000000)
Making mechanical music play and pay off at auction
25 June 2018A sophisticated disc-playing music box brought one of the highest recent prices for mechanical music at Thimbleby & Shorland (12% buyer’s premium) in Reading.
![img_33-5.jpg](/media/29851/img_33-5.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131731888530000000)
Mozart and a little lute magic at Sotheby's
11 June 2018It was a four-page Mozart manuscript of an unfinished Allegro in G for piano and four hands that led the Sotheby’s (25/10/12.9% buyers’ premium) sales of May 22.
![img_6-2.jpg](/media/28404/img_6-2.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131699908340000000)
Colt Clavier to be dispersed in Canterbury
07 May 2018The Colt Clavier collection of historical keyboard instruments will be offered on June 7 in a sale held by Canterbury Auction Galleries in association with London specialist Piano Auctions.
![img_36-1.jpg](/media/27681/img_36-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131689534780000000)
Dealership devoted to tuneful mechanical items that please ‘the eye, the touch and the ear’
23 April 2018With more than 35 years’ collecting experience each, Mark Singleton and Steve Greatrex have launched Silvertone Music Boxes, a dealership devoted to mechanical music.
![Gramophone](/media/26947/gramaphone.jpg?rxy=0.49666666666666665,0.36888888888888888&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131674058460000000)
Stolen gramophone discovered in France will be returned to rightful owner
13 April 2018A stolen gramophone will be returned to its owner next week after an Antiques Trade Gazette article alerted the buyer to the theft.
![Beatles](/media/26686/40969945181_a24340e3c1_k.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131667943350000000)
Complete set of Beatles autographs auctioned in the Cotswolds
29 March 2018A set of Beatles autographs goes under the hammer in the Cotswolds next month.
![img_42-4.jpg](/media/25155/img_42-4.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131633397490000000)
Not a golden disc but precious memories for silver dealer Dickenson
19 February 2018Silver dealer Alastair Dickenson had a blast from the past when he flicked through the pages of ATG recently.
![img_42-1.jpg](/media/24576/img_42-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131621266550000000)
Hurdy-gurdy, armonica and serpent sales
05 February 2018An 800-year-old hurdy-gurdy, thought to be the oldest in Europe, features in a collection of 450 musical instruments from a German private museum coming up at auction.
![Grand Broadwood](/media/22662/queen-victoria-john-broadwood-sons-grand-piano-2.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131571401640000000)
Queen Victoria’s piano rediscovered in Oxfordshire church and is linked to Schumann love affair
11 December 2017A piano owned by Queen Victoria is on offer at dealership Sherwood Phoenix after being rediscovered in an Oxfordshire church.
![img_71-2.jpg](/media/22026/img_71-2.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131556515450000000)
Beatles 'Love Me Do' signed single offered at Boston saleroom
20 November 2017A Beatles 'Love Me Do' signed single will be auctioned by RR Auction, Boston, in the online-only Marvels of Modern Music Sale running from December 7-14.
![Yeats glasses.jpg](/media/21770/yeats-glasses.jpg?rxy=0.50166666666666671,0.654&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131551538850000000)
Seen through a poet’s eyes: iconic spectacles worn by WB Yeats sell for 20 times estimate at Fonsie Mealy’s in Ireland
15 November 2017Spectacles belonging to poet WB Yeats (1865-1939) sold in his native Ireland for €10,000 yesterday (November 14), 20 times their lower estimate, in the second and final auction of the artistic Yeats family’s effects.
![Jimi Hendrix](/media/20975/2315-ne-hendrix-self.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131535074070000000)
Jimi Hendrix memorabilia strikes the right chord at auction
27 October 201750 years on and Hendrix still rocks – Hansons Auctioneers has sold a note, written on the back of a packet of guitar strings in 1967, for £5700.
![img_17-5.jpg](/media/20191/img_17-5.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131520141010000000)
‘The most jukeboxy of them all’ is an after-sale hit
09 October 2017One of the most sought-after models in the jukebox world is the Wurlitzer Peacock Type 850, designed by Paul Fueller in 1941. It is generally considered the biggest, the showiest and ‘most jukeboxy’ jukebox of them all.
![Score](/media/19295/e-rigby-score-2-2306nedi.jpg?rxy=0.50166666666666671,0.37623762376237624&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131503028420000000)
Omega Auctions withdraws Eleanor Rigby score after police contacted in ownership dispute
19 September 2017Omega Auctions withdrew the sale of an original score for the 1966 Beatles' classic Eleanor Rigby ahead of its auction earlier this month due to a family dispute over ownership.
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