Pieces of Eight: A Very Charitable Donation, a Good Little Urn-er & Something Smells Like Teen Spirit
🎸 Kurt Cobain’s mythical 1969 Fender Mustang electric guitar from Nirvana’s landmark 1991 music video, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was auctioned for nearly $5 million at Julien’s Auctions on May 22.
“To have this legendary guitar, one of the most culturally significant and historically important guitars of Kurt Cobain and in all of rock music history return to my home state of Indiana to be part of Jim Irsay’s renowned memorabilia collection is a great honor and personal highlight of my life,”
- Darren Julien, president and chief executive officer of Julien’s Auctions
🏺 An "extremely rare" 18th Century Chinese vase bought in the 1980s for a few hundred pounds and kept in a kitchen has sold for £1,449,000. The 2ft (60cm) blue-glazed, silver and gilt vase was created for the court of the Qianlong Emperor. Decorated with cranes and bats, it had been estimated to sell at auction for between £100,000-£150,000.
💴. A rare £100 bank note found in a charity shop has sold for £140,000. Oxfam volunteer Paul Wyman was working in the Brentwood branch in Essex, when he spotted an unusual bank note in a box of donated items. The £100 'Palestine pounds' note is one of less than ten known to exist and was issued to high ranking officials during the time of the British Mandate in Palestine in 1927.
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🖌 Showpiece number three Andy Warhol's 'Reigning Queens' is here. We're releasing a new article every week for our collectors to enjoy, check out Friday's 'Warhol - The Phenomenon' here
That's it for this week, thanks as always for reading and if you have any comments please get in touch via hello@showpiece.com.
The Showpiece Team
