Freddie Mercury's mustache comb, an angry cat, and The Art of Trolling
And Princess Diana's famous "black sheep" sweater.
Hi all, and welcome to the summer doldrums! There’s not much going on in the auction world right now — all the rich people have effed off to France or wherever — so the pickings are slim. There are some big-name auctions coming up in September, though, most particularly a week-long Sotheby’s extravaganza devoted to Freddie Mercury.
I’ve never been a huge Queen fan, but after seeing the types of things Mercury liked to collect, I wish I’d known him. The man truly had the heart and soul of a collector, with interests ranging from cute little cat knickknacks to Fabergé. Sotheby’s London has split his collection into a whole raft of sales in September (with three online ones opening this month), and scrolling through you’ll see glassware by Lalique, Daum and Gallé; artwork by Tissot and Picasso, and an extraordinary collection of 18th and 19th-century Japanese woodblock prints (including this masterpiece by Hiroshige) all jostling up against stage costumes, gold records and handwritten lyric sheets. There’s even a neon telephone. It’s a delight to root through it all.
Jewelry-wise, there’s a fair amount of Cartier and lots of diamonds, but I’m going to highlight a piece that’s lighter on the bling and heavier on the iconic: the coiled silver snake chain bangle above, which practically co-stars in the 1975 music video for Bohemian Rhapsody. (It’s German, with green glass eyes; estimate £7,000 - £9,000, or $9,000 - $12,000.) It will appear in the Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own | The Evening Sale on September 6 in London.
Another fun piece is this late 20th century silver mustache comb from Tiffany & Co., which has a slightly more attainable estimate of £400 - £600, or $510 - $760. It’s included in the online Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own | Crazy Little Things 2 auction opening tomorrow.
I also can’t NOT point out this stunning Fabergé vesta case. I wrote about vesta cases a couple years back, but a lot of you weren’t around then so I’ll catch you up: vesta cases are matchboxes, and they’re named after Vesta, the Roman goddess of the hearth.
The friction matches of the 19th and early 20th centuries were volatile and prone to spontaneously bursting into flame, so these cases (which were usually made of metal) were meant to prevent people from accidentally setting themselves on fire. Because they were used by everyone — regardless of societal rank — a huge range of cases were manufactured all over the world.
This one was clearly made for the 1%. Circa 1890 and hallmarked KF for Fabergé in Cyrillic, it features an apricot-colored agate body with an overlaid cage of swirling, diamond-accented gold iris leaves and flowers. The design of the piece is clearly influenced by Japanese decorative arts, so it’s no surprise that Mercury fell for it, as he was enthralled by all things Japan. This piece is also included in the flagship Evening Sale on September 6, and it’s estimated at £6,000 - £8,000, or $7,650 - $10,200.
Side note: Mercury — like all sensible people — was a cat person, and Sotheby’s has put together a sweet profile of all his various floofs, with pictures.
Additional reading: Did you know that the two women behind the beloved gossip site Go Fug Yourself have a newsletter? Fug Girl Jessica Morgan covered the Freddie Mercury auctions in the Tuesday’s edition of Drinks with Broads — go check it out! One of the things I love about auctions is seeing which items other people choose to highlight, so her enthusiastic coverage is a delight.
Another upcoming sale that’s generating loads of buzz is Fashion Icons, a Sotheby’s New York online auction running from August 31– September 14. The rest of the lots aren’t posted yet, but the headline item is Princess Diana’s iconic “black sheep” sweater.
Diana first wore the sweater to one of Charles’s polo matches just prior to their wedding in 1981, when she was 19 years old. The resulting press coverage launched the fledgling knitwear business of the sweater’s designers, Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne, into the stratosphere. (Their business, Warm and Wonderful, has in recent years resurrected the sweater design and added various collabs, including bags and stationery.)
Diana wore the sweater again a couple of years later — but, technically, that was a different sweater. Sotheby’s notes that not long after that 1981 outing, the designers received a letter from Buckingham Palace “politely explaining that Diana had damaged her much-loved sheep sweater and requested either a repair or replacement. A new sweater was knitted entirely and they received a grateful thank you letter from her private secretary, Oliver Everett.”
The designers always assumed they had either lost or repaired and resold the original sweater during that initial crush of orders, but Osborne recently discovered it safely packed away in a box of bedsheets during an attic clean-out. Inspection of the damaged cuff proved to them (and Sotheby’s authenticators) that it was Diana’s original.
The sweater will be sold together with the two related letters — the initial one requesting a repair, and the follow-up thank you note from the Palace. It’s estimated to sell for $50,000 - $80,000.
These gorgeous white jade hairpins were included in The Victor Shaw Collection of Chinese Jades: Online Part 3 | Jewellery auction last week at Sotheby’s Hong Kong. Dating to the Ming - Qing dynasty (1618 to 1683), the hairpins also feature tiny earpicks at each end. They sold for 48,260 HKD, or $6,175, and I’m floored that such delicate, exquisite pieces have survived intact for so long.
Novelty jewelry was all the rage in late 19th century France, and this shotgun cartridge stick-pin fits the bill. The body of the cartridge is made of lapis lazuli, and the base (or ferrel) is 18k gold with a tiny inset diamond. A number 5 is enameled on the end of the cartridge.
None of that is why I like this piece, though. Look at its original case:
It’s in the shape of a tiny wooden explosives crate! Stamped with the words “EXPLOSIFS” and “DANGEREUX”! Frickin’ adorable. The piece was originally retailed by Hartog, and the interior is marked with their address: 22 Rue de la Paix, Paris.
It’s available from London antique jewelry dealer Max Michelson for £4,250 ($5,407).
This incredible late 19th century diamond and enamel cat's head brooch is by Frederic Boucheron. Ca. 1890 Paris, its fur fans out in lines of rose-cut diamonds, with glass bead eyes and an enameled mouth. It’s an incredible piece, and it very recently disappeared from the site of London dealers S.J. Phillips, so it must have sold. They were asking more than £50,000 ($64,000).
It immediately reminded me of the snarling fox brooch I included in one of my very first editions of Dearest. That one was also sold by S.J. Phillips, so I guess they’re the go to for exquisite little angry animals.
I believe I know a few people who have studied this book extensively, lol.
Ok, obviously this is not a guide to shitposting, but how could I resist? It’s actually a reprint from 1790 of an earlier 1682 book about fishing by Robert Nobbes. In case you were wondering, the fishing version of trolling involves slowly drawing a baited line behind your boat to try to catch a pike. It sounds a bit like “trawling,” but that’s different and refers to the commercial fishing practice of pulling nets through the water.
The book is included (along with a second fishing-related volume in the same lot) in the Doyle Rare Books, Autographs & Maps auction closing on August 15, and carries an estimate of $300 - $500. Worth it for a joke? Maybe, if you know a big enough troll.
That’s it for today, pals. It’s Gentleman’s Friday (to cadge a delightful term from Rusty), so start your powering-down processes and quiet quit the crap out of tomorrow. It’s AUGUST — the important people are off somewhere berating waiters and dreaming up new ways to silo their generational wealth. Take your chance! Do it! Doooooo iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit
Bye, M x
Everyone absolutely needs a go to for exquisite little angry animals. Great stuff.
I always come here for sentences like "all the rich people have effed off to France or wherever" and I am NEVER EVER disappointed. Not once.
What worries me about that enraged cat brooch is that it presumably took a long time to make, so Boucheron had to keep re-enraging the cat model to get the expression just right. If I was that cat, I'd walk out after a few days of such nonsense, and never look back. I hope it did.
I would also like to be buried in that DANGEREUX wooden crate. When I'm dead, I mean, not right now. And in a scaled-up version. I don't want to be reduced down like a balsamic sauce. I just want the crate and the lettering. This will be going in my Will.