A Victorian-style silver snake bangle wore with an ivory satin catsuit in the B次元官网网址淏ohemian RhapsodyB次元官网网址� video sold Wednesday for the highest price ever paid at auction for a piece of jewelry owned by a rock star as the late Queen front manB次元官网网址檚 most prized possessions were sold, SothebyB次元官网网址檚 said.
The bracelet went for 698,500 pounds ($881,000) B次元官网网址� 100 times its estimated low price B次元官网网址� as the singer and songwriterB次元官网网址檚 flamboyant stage costumes, handwritten drafts to hits such as B次元官网网址淲e are the ChampionsB次元官网网址� and the baby grand piano he composed QueenB次元官网网址檚 greatest hits on went up for sale.
The item broke a record set when John LennonB次元官网网址檚 leather and bead talisman sold for 295,000 pounds ($368,000) in 2008, SothebyB次元官网网址檚 said.
The auction opened with the sale of the graffiti-tagged door to the garden of MercuryB次元官网网址檚 home rapidly blowing past the high estimate of 25,000 pounds ($31,250) projected before the sale. The green door covered in hand-painted love notes from fans who made a pilgrimage to the house in the tony Kensington section of London sold for an eye-popping 412,750 pounds ($521,000) that included a buyerB次元官网网址檚 premium.
The collection was amassed by Mercury after QueenB次元官网网址檚 glam-rock produced an avalanche of hits that allowed the singer to achieve his dream of living a Victorian life B次元官网网址渟urrounded by exquisite clutter.B次元官网网址�
More than 1,400 items are being sold by MercuryB次元官网网址檚 close friend, Mary Austin, to whom he left his house and all its possessions when he died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1991 at 45.
Some of the proceeds from a series of live and online auctions were to go to charities. All of the proceeds of the sale of a Cartier onyx and diamond ring given to Mercury by Elton John that sold for 273,000 pounds ($344,000) were to go to the B次元官网网址淩ocket ManB次元官网网址� singerB次元官网网址檚 AIDS charity.
Among the items sold at auction were prints by Pablo Picasso (190,500 pounds; $240,000), Salvador Dal铆 (48,260 pounds; $60,900); and Marc Chagall (63,500; $80,000), antique furniture and numerous cat figurines.
SothebyB次元官网网址檚 devoted all 15 of its galleries to display MercuryB次元官网网址檚 eclectic collection in a tribute that was like a museum exhibit that it opened to the public for free, drawing more than 140,000 visitors in just over a month.
People from around the world visited B次元官网网址淔reddie Mercury: A World of his Own,B次元官网网址� and the publicity drove up bidding for online auctions that began last month and close next week.
Even the items that had seemed in reach for some buyers, quickly eclipsed estimates in online auctions.
A collection of chopsticks that was estimated to fetch 40-60 British pounds had a current bid 1,200 pounds ($1,500).
One of the quirkier items, a silver moustache comb from Tiffany & Co, that had been expected to set a buyer back 400 to 600 pounds ($500B次元官网网址�750) had a bid at 35,000 pounds ($43,750).
The Yamaha baby grand piano that Mercury wrote some of his biggest hits on had been expected to reach bids as high as 3 million pounds ($3.75 million) but sold for 1.7 million pounds ($2.2 million).
Other items likely to be treasured by Queen fans were MercuryB次元官网网址檚 draft lyrics hits B次元官网网址淒onB次元官网网址檛 Stop Me Now,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淲e Are the ChampionsB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址漇omebody to Love.B次元官网网址�
The handwritten draft of B次元官网网址淏ohemian RhapsodyB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� scratched on stationery from the defunct British Midland Airways showed Mercury originally named the song B次元官网网址淢ongolian RhapsodyB次元官网网址� but crossed it out. It sold for about 1.4 million pounds ($1.7 million).
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