Publicity from “Freddie Mercury: A World of his Own” drove up bidding for online auctions that began last month and closes next week.Įven items being sold online that had seemed like they might be in reach for some average buyers eclipsed pre-sale estimates.Ī collection of chopsticks once estimated to fetch 40-60 British pounds ($50-75) had a current bid 1,200 pounds ($1,500) Wednesday. More than 140,000 visitors from around the world queued up outside the elegant auction house to take a tour. 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).Īll of the proceeds of the sale of a Cartier onyx and diamond ring given to Mercury by his friend, Elton John, that sold for 273,000 pounds ($344,000) were to go to the “Rocket Man” singer’s AIDS charity.Īrt sold at the auction included prints by Pablo Picasso (190,500 pounds $240,000), Salvador Dalí (48,260 pounds $60,900) and Marc Chagall (63,500 $80,000), antique furniture and numerous cat figurines.įor the past month, fans of Mercury who couldn’t afford those kind of prices - or just wanted to see his high-top Adidas, diamond brooches, or a sequined jacket - could view them for free in Sotheby’s galleries.
The auction opened with the sale of the graffiti-tagged door to the garden of Mercury’s home that quickly blew past the high estimate of 25,000 pounds ($31,250) projected before the sale and led to a bidding war that lasted nearly 20 minutes.
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