Love letters to Pattie Boyd from both George Harrison and Eric Clapton are going up for sale at Christie's auction house, alongside clothing, jewellery and other memorabilia from Pattie Boyd.
Boyd, who was previously married both to Beatle Harrison and to guitar legend Clapton, is selling a trove of items from her time at the epicenter of the 1960s and 70s counterculture, Christie's announced.
For Boyd, George wrote "Something," one of the Fab Four's most-covered tunes. Clapton's passion for his friend's wife inspired the scorching "Layla."
Later, when Boyd had left George and married Eric Clapton, he serenaded her with "Wonderful Tonight."
The auction includes two love letters from Clapton, written while Boyd was married to Harrison, and the original cover artwork for Derek and The Dominos' 1970 album "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs," a painting of a blonde model who reminded Clapton of Boyd.
It's estimated to sell for between 40,000 and 60,000 pounds ($77,618 and $116,427).
The couple (George and Pattie) moved into Friar Park, a Neo-Gothic mansion in Oxfordshire, in the spring of 1970. A letter arrived, which, in tiny, neat rows of words mostly missing their capital letters, read: ‘Dearest L, i am writing this note to you, with the main purpose of ascertaining your feelings towards a subject well known to both of us…’ It was signed ‘all my love, E.’
‘I had no idea it was from Eric. I thought it was a letter from a weird fan,’ Boyd recalls. ‘I even showed it to George!’ The penny dropped that evening, when Clapton called to ask Boyd if she had received any mail from him. ‘I said, “Oh my god, I didn’t realise it was from you!”
‘I have kept the letter ever since in a little box filled with trinkets and things, and when I was writing my autobiography, Wonderful Today, I brought it out. It’s a very beautifully written letter, but the writing is so small — it takes up not even a third of the page. It’s like he was rather shy about writing it. It’s like a whisper instead of a talk.’
‘George and I were going through a bit of a spiky time together,’ continues Boyd. ‘The Beatles had this chaos and anxiety surrounding the band, and George was being dismissive. Then Eric keeps coming over to our house asking me to run away with him. Well, that was tempting, but I couldn’t do it. It just wasn’t right.’
The letter is one of several being offered online as part of The Patti Boyd Collection, which runs from 8 to 22 March 2024. The auction also includes song lyrics, photographs and handmade mementoes that offer a fascinating glimpse into the lives of some of music’s most influential and iconic figures.
There are also letters and notes from Harrison, and his handwritten lyrics for the song "Mystical One," which have an estimated price of 30,000 to 50,000 pounds ($58,213 to $97,023).
Boyd adds that deciding to let go of the objects coming to auction at Christie’s has been a cathartic process. ‘I thought, “Do I need them? Do I need to keep going into Pandora’s Box?” I’ve enjoyed them for many, many years, and now it’s time for other people to see and enjoy them. It’s only right I should pass them on.’
Christie's head of sale Adrian Hume-Sayer said Boyd's life and career "chart some of the key moments of the cultural revolution that changed the world in the 1960s," and the auction offered collectors and fans "an unparalleled chance to see and own a piece of cultural history."
The more than 100 lots include photos taken by Boyd, who became an accomplished photographer, among them images of The Beatles' 1968 stay at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram in India.
"I'm happy to let go of these things which I have treasured and loved for so many years," said Boyd, 79.
"These items represent special moments in my life but now I think it's time to move on and share what I have with others."
The items are open for online bidding between March 8 and 22, and will be on display at Christie's London headquarters from March 15 to 21.
🟠BEATLES STORES (Associated with Amazon, Shipments Worldwide)￫ HERE , HERE & HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment