WHY PROVENANCE MATTERS

Why do some pieces sell for far more than their estimates? Often, says Emma Longstaff, it's due to who owned it, and if there's a paper trail...

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A 1970s Yamaha G2 baby grand piano typically makes around £3,000 at auction. So why was one sold recently for over £1.7m? The simple answer: provenance. The piano belonged to Freddy Mercury, and was the instrument on which he composed some of his most famous songs. More than 100,000 fans from across the globe flocked to see the pre-auction exhibition at Sotheby's in 2023, which included everything from the bangle Mercury wore in the Bohemian Rhapsody video, to a pink marble-topped minibar (with matching stools). The sale raised over £40m. Jane Tennant, a director of Tennants Auctioneers explains 'When you know an object's history - who it has belonged to or where it has previously been sold - that unique story takes it into another dimension. For some buyers, provenance is completely mesmerising, and it can add significantly to an item's value.

Like Freddy Mercury's piano, objects that can be traced back to notable owners, such as royalty, celebrities, famous families or influential collectors, often command higher prices simply because of their tantalising associations. They can become emblematic of an individual, like Margaret Thatcher's sensible handbags or Winston Churchill's cigar case. Similarly, an item with a deeply personal connection, something they used every day, rather than lingering unloved at the back of a cupboard, sets buyers' pulses racing. A silver moustache comb, even one by the prestigious American jewellery company Tiffany, would usually make, at best, a few hundred pounds. But the thrilling thought that it was used to style Freddy Mercury's facial hair meant his Tiffany moustache comb achieved £152,000 in the Sotheby's sale, against a pre-sale estimate of a mere £400 to £600.