Drummer’s jazz memorabilia and collection of books to be auctioned
Christie’s has announced Charlie Watts: Gentleman, Collector, Rolling Stone – Literature and Jazz, a two-part auction comprising an unparalleled library of modern first edition books, the finest and highest value collection of its kind to come to auction in over 20 years, together with an extensive collection of jazz memorabilia amassed by the legendary musician and Rolling Stones’ drummer, who died in August 2021 at the age of 80. The flagship auction will take place at Christie’s headquarters in London on September 28th, alongside an online sale which will be open for bidding from September 15-29. Over 500 lots will be offered, with estimates ranging from £800 to £300,000. Highlight lots will tour to Los Angeles from July 25-29 and New York from September 5-8, ahead of the public pre-sale exhibition in London from September 20-27.
“Charlie was the heartbeat of the Rolling Stones for nearly 60 years, he was totally unique and devoted to jazz and literature from boyhood. He was the quintessential English gentleman and his absence is a great loss for us all. We miss him hugely,” share Rolling Stones bandmaters Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood.
The renowned drummer of the Rolling Stones who provided the backbeat to some of the most iconic tracks of our time, Watts’ love of music ran alongside a passion for the greatest works of 20th century literature. Leading the live sale will be an important inscribed copy of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a book which continues to define the Jazz age, inscribed inside the front cover to “the original Gatsby,” Harold Goldman, screenwriter at MGM.
The collection also boasts exciting presentation inscriptions and the rarest obtainable editions of books by authors including George Orwell to Agatha Christie, and from Arthur Conan Doyle to James Joyce, with estimates ranging from £800 to £300,000.
Charlie Watts’ love of jazz underpinned his life. Having formed his own jazz group, The Charlie Watts Quintet, whose performances at Ronnie Scott’s were a highlight of his multifaceted career, this musical passion also became a dominant force in his collecting, underpinned by his love of the jazz greats including Billie Holliday, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman. This unrivaled collection also includes a particular focus on his favorite saxophonist, Charlie Parker, one of the most important figures in the development of jazz, including Parker’s Associated Musicians Membership Card, his contracts for the Alto Break sessions and a pair of Down Beat awards from 1952. An annotated printed score for Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin will also be showcased.
Presenting collectors and fans with further opportunities, part two of the sale will be online and open for bidding from September 15-29, live for browsing from August 18th. It will include lots by acclaimed 20th century authors, such as Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie and Carry on Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse. Further Jazz lots feature two scores by Irving Berlin – Songs from Top Hat and Songs from Follow the Fleet – inscribed to Ginger Rogers and two inscribed piano scores by the influential cornetist Leon ‘Bix’ Beiderbecke.
