Around 1,500 lots will go under the hammer in John Rolfe Auctions’ April sale – and some are literally out of this world.
The three-day sale, starting on April 20th, features a shirt worn by notorious gangster Reggie Kray whilst he was serving time in Shepton Mallet Prison, a collection of photographs from NASA moon missions in 1960s and 70s, and a winner’s medal from the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest.
“We were clearing the estate of the famous songwriter, Bill Martin who did a lot of work with the Bay City Rollers, Cliff Richard and Sandie Shaw,” explained John Rolfe, whose auction house is based near Tetbury, Gloucestershire.
“We found an original 1967 Eurovision Song Contest winner’s medal – when an act wins four medals are given – one for the artist and three for the production. It was given to Bill for writing Puppet on a String. Believe it or not, one has never come to market before, so it’s going in with no reserve and no estimate.”
Two chairs that belonged to French impressionist artist Claude Monet are also going under the hammer, along with a ‘sweetheart pincushion’. “In this instance the ‘beloved’ is the creator of the Scouting movement, Lord Baden-Powell – a really rare piece of Scouting history which we’ve priced at £500-£800 but that could really go on and on,” added Mr Rolfe.
The rare collection of 14 walnut-framed NASA photographs is estimated to sell for £3,000-£5,000 and show astronauts preparing for the 1969 Apollo mission to the moon – one image is of Buzz Aldrin in the craft, wearing his Omega Speedmaster watch whilst another shows the Space Shuttle in space.
“We’re still taking entries for the sale – you have until March 22nd to get them to us so we can value them, and they can join these wonderful things in the next sale.”
For more information visit: John Rolfe Auctions
