“The selection of significant and rare works will showcase the cultural and artistic reach of genres including Rock, Pop, Metal and Britpop,» the auction house says.
ADVERTISEMENTThe announcement that UK pop band Oasis is holding a reunion tour in 2025 – ending a 15-year feud – has fired fans to dig out memorabilia and reminisce about seeing them live.
But what about owning a guitar that Noel Gallagher – who was lead guitarist and co-vocalist for the band – strummed?
Auction house Sotheby’s has put the guitar up for grabs in a timely pop culture sale.
The inaugural Popular Culture London Online Auction will bring together “the highest quality popular culture artefacts from the worlds of Music, Film, and Celebrity, in a tightly curated offering,” according to Sotheby’s.
“The selection of significant and rare works will showcase the cultural and artistic reach of genres including Rock, Pop, Metal and Britpop, as well as the most famous and enduring cinematic productions.”
Bidding will open online from 29 August until the sale closes on 12 September 2024. The online auction will be open to the public in a dedicated exhibition in London’s New Bond Street galleries from Monday 9 September.
Sotheby’s auctions off rare Britpop and rock memorabilia
Five lots are currently open for bid registration on Sotheby’s website.
1. Noel Gallagher’s guitar
Impassioned Oasis fans will be vying for the Epiphone Les Paul standard electric guitar. The instrument was owned and used by Noel Gallagher during sessions prior to the final recording of Oasis’ 1994 debut album ‘Definitely Maybe’ at Sawmills Studio.
It featured in both the music video and iconic cover artwork of Oasis’ debut single ‘Supersonic’. It was stage-played on numerous early live performances including at the Boardwalk in Manchester, the Krazy House in Liverpool, and Water Rats in London.
It is set to go for an estimate of £60,000-80,000.
2. Prince’s guitar
The second lot is Prince’s blackburst, stage-played Vox HDC-77 electric guitar. The singer used it extensively during his stint playing with the band 3RDEYEGIRL between 2013 and 2015.
«Prince envisioned a driving sound with 3RDEYEGIRL, and something in the Vox spoke to his concept for the band,” Dan Piepenbring, a collaborator on Prince’s memoir writes in an article for Sotheby’s.
“His own playing on the guitar traded the jazzier inflections of the ’90s and ’00s for a more incendiary, blues-oriented approach, raw and emotional, sometimes even grungy, as if he’d belatedly imbibed all the bands of the alt-rock era.”
ADVERTISEMENTThe guitar is being brought to auction by Donna Grantis, guitarist and bandmate in Prince’s groups 3RDEYEGIRL and New Power Generation. The instrument comes directly from her private collection and hasn’t been played since Prince last performed with it.
The guitar has an estimate of £200,000-300,000.
3. Abbey Road Studios piano
The auction also includes a Steinway Model A Grand Piano. The instrument was housed and used in Studio 3 between 1973 and 2016.
ADVERTISEMENTThe piano has satin ebonised casework and is raised on three square tapered legs terminating in brass cappings and castors, with faux-ivory keys and three brass pedals.
It was featured on dozens of iconic tracks and albums by some of music’s biggest artists including Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Radiohead, Adele, Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga and the Foo Fighters.
The piano bears marks of its forty-year life at Abbey Road, with watermarks from cups and glasses, cigarette burns and abrasions.
It is going for an estimate of £150,000-200,000.
ADVERTISEMENT4. The Red Shoes
The fourth lot is a pair of original red satin ballet pointe shoes created for Moira Shearer as ‘Victoria Page’ in the 1948 film ‘The Red Shoes’ produced by Powell & Pressburger.
The shoes have red ribbons and the soles are each stamped ‘FREED LONDON’ and size 3 1/2.
The up for bidding at an estimated value of £15,000-20,000.
ADVERTISEMENT5. The Marianne Faithfull collection
Finally, pop culture fans can bid for books by photographers associated with Marianne’s early music career on the Decca Records label.
There is a dedicated copy of ‘Marianne Faithfull: Fabulous Beast’ by Gered Mankowitz, which is no. 50 from the limited edition of 350.
It is signed in black ink by the author and inscribed ‘For dearest Marianne / with love & admiration / Gered X’, dated ‘Cornwall 5th Nov 2020’.
ADVERTISEMENTThe lot also includes a copy of ‘Blinds & Shutters’ by Michael Cooper (Genesis Publications, 2020), no. 1841 from the 30th Anniversary Limited Edition.
It is signed by Francis Bacon, Peter Blake, Adam Cooper, Terry Doran, Allen Jones, Stash Klossowski, Sandy Lieberson, Bridget Riley, Colin Self, Derek Taylor and Bill Wyman.
The lot is worth an estimated £1,000-2,000.
Artefacts from the Golden Age of Hollywood through to blockbuster films
There will also be a selection of important artefacts from Hollywood halcyon days through to blockbuster films. On sale is the rhino-riding gladiator costume as worn in Sir Ridley Scott’s forthcoming sequel, Gladiator II, and memorably seen in the first trailer for the upcoming release.
ADVERTISEMENTDonated by EON Productions, producers of the James Bond film franchise, and being sold for charity on behalf of world-leading arts charity BAFTA, are a limited-edition box set of two Omega ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ 50th anniversary Seamaster Diver 300M model watches, estimated at between £40,000 – £60,000.
