From Bogie and Bacall's wedding rings to Freddie Mercury's art collection

A first edition of The Great Gatsby and Roger Moore's Lamborghini skis also up for auction in London and Hollywood

One of the matching 14-carat gold wedding rings exchanged by Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in May 1945 at Julien's.

Freddie Mercury's baby grand owned by Freddie Mercury, the matched wedding rings of Bogie and Bacall, a first edition of The Great Gatsby from the collection of Charlie Watts and Roger Moore’s Lamborghini skis are among an extraordinary collection of celebrity stuff soon to come up at blockbuster sales in London and Hollywood.

Collectibles like these are big business. With fans everywhere and global auction access online, the business is growing exponentially.

Right now every inch of Sotheby’s 16,000 gallery space at New Bond Street in London is given over to a free exhibition of the world of Freddie Mercury in advance of three auctions on September 6, 7 and 8.

Online Mercury sales already underway will run to September 11, 12 and 13. On offer are costumes, handwritten lyrics, drawings, furniture, and decorative and fine art that were part of his life at his London home, Garden Lodge in Kensington.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is his treasured Yamaha G2 Baby Grand. More than a decade of hits, from ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to ‘Barcelona’, were composed on this treasured piano. Always kept in pristine condition it is estimated at between £2m and £3m. 

A handwritten manuscript working lyrics to We are the Champions.

There are handwritten working lyrics for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ and ‘Somebody to Love’, costumes relating to promotional videos including a two-piece stage outfit comprising a catsuit and bolero of ivory satin with winged wrists and lower legs inspired by the god Mercury.

Freddie Mercury was a discriminating collector who loved going to auctions. In 1980 he acquired Garden Lodge, a Georgian-style brick villa, and set about creating a home that was both grand and intimate, richly furnished and entirely of his own making.

Henri Matisse's Masque Blanc sur Fond Noir from the collection of Freddie Mercury,

The auction will include art by Matisse, James Tissot, Picasso and Utagawa Hiroshige, Victorian paintings and works on paper, the finest examples of the glassmaker’s art, exceptional fabrics and fine works collected on trips to Japan. All are on view at Sotheby’s in an exhibition that will close on September 5, the day that would have been Freddie Mercury’s 77th birthday.

Iconic objects from some of Hollywood’s greatest legends will come up at a sale by Turner Classic Movies and Julien’s Auction on September 6, 7 and 8. 

There is everything from dresses worn by Princess Diana and Audrey Hepburn to a slave costume worn by Princess Leia in Star Wars, Captain Kirk’s Star Fleet command jacket and the 1945 wedding rings of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. 

The matching 14-carat gold wedding rings exchanged by Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in May 1945.

James Bond, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Back to the Future and Batman will all feature in a sale celebrating 100 years of Warner Brothers.

A library of first-edition classics and landmarks from the world of jazz will come up at Christie’s sale of the collection of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts (1941-2021).

The sale is led by a first edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby inscribed by the author to the original Gatsby of the story. There are iconic works of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle alongside the best of English and American literature of the 20th century. 

A c1905 art nouveau glass vase lamp from the collection of Freddie Mercury.

Charlie Watts: Gentleman, Collector, Rolling Stone will take place in London on September 28. An online sale will run from September 15-29.

Meantime, Bonhams will offer 180 lots from the personal collection of Bond actor and Unicef ambassador Sir Roger Moore (1927-2017) in London on October 4. This marks the 50th anniversary year of his first appearance as 007.

There is Bond memorabilia like dinner suits and jackets, collectibles like a Hollywood Walk of Fame plaque and personal items like silk ties and cravats along with a pair of his Lamborghini skis.