JE 159

Monday, January 20 – Harrow on the Hill

There’s another guitar auction taking place in London! You may recall that during my visit last winter, the Mark Knopfler guitar collection generated massive sale prices. Well, I guess the estate of another iconic rocker, Jeff Beck, heard about this and decided to get in on the action! Can’t blame them!

Before heading off to Christie’s to view the guitars, I’m going on another walking tour – this time in the Central London enclave of Mayfair. Mayfair is known as an exclusive shopping, residential and business district in the heart of the West End.

And we’re off…

Just near the start of the walk, the front display of this restaurant on Piccadilly caught my eye.

St. James’s Church (ca. 1684). Designed by Sir Christopher Wren.

From Monday to Saturday the church’s forecourt is taken over by a small market. Today were food stalls.

Another window display that I liked. This is the K. Minamoto confectionery store on Piccadilly.

I’m now inside Hatchard’s bookshop. It was founded at this multistory Piccadilly location in 1797, making it London’s oldest bookstore.

Burlington House. Originally a private residence, it is now home to the Royal Academy of Arts.

No. 37 Dover Street, originally the town house of the Bishop of Ely (ca. 1772).

Note the bishop’s miter in the middle roundel.

I’m not sure of the history here, I just like this home’s exterior!

Berkeley Square. Some of the trees here date to 1789.

I couldn’t resist this shot from the Square of these London icons.

Berkeley Square T-Rex (juvenile) sculpture

Sculpture by Emelio Greco (ca. 1973); a gift from the President of Italy to the city of London.

The Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street; also known as Farm Street Church (ca. 1849)

Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family in Exile (ca. 1891)

St. George’s Church (ca. 1725). Handel was a regular worshiper here, and claims that he wrote *Messiah* in the church.

That was fun! Now, I’m heading down the road to Christie’s to check out some vintage guitars…

It’s probably not obvious from these photos, but there were a lot of people at this viewing (I was mostly patient; waiting for breaks before taking the pictures). It kind of surprised me. I don’t remember there being as many visitors when I attended the Knopfler viewing last year. But maybe the surprise is down to me favoring the work of Mark over Jeff!

Here are a few of the guitars that stood out to me…

1954 Gibson Les Paul (est. £350,000-600,000). The guitar with the highest auction estimate.

1959 Gibson Les Paul that was significantly modified by Jeff (est. £40,000-60,000)

A guitar signed by the performers at *The Jeff Beck Tribute Concert* that took place in May 2023. Signers include Eric Clapton, Ronnie Wood, Rod Stewart, and Gary Clarke, Jr. (est. £4,000-6,000)

I like the story behind this one! Jeff used the guitar when he worked with Tina Turner on the album Private Dancer. At the end of the session in 1984, he asked Turner to sign the guitar. She first autographed it in felt pen, but it was clear that it would not last. So instead she produced a knife from her bag and carved her name into the pink finish. She then rubbed green nail polish into the jagged letters to make them visible and permanent. (est. £8,000-12,000)

Like the Knopfler auction, I think the estimates here are very low! Maybe Christie’s does that on purpose? The auction takes place on Wednesday; we’ll see what happens!

For those who would like further information on the auction, here are some links:

Auction Home Page

Backstories

Walk around

Finally, I saw this on display at Christie’s and couldn’t resist sharing…

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