Reach for the stars

As the sale of the Freddie Mercury collection takes centre stage at Sotheby's London this August and September, Caroline Wheater unpacks the rocketing phenomenon of the celebrity auction, where bidders buy into the lives of the rich and famous

- Caroline Wheater

I like to be surrounded by splendid things. I want to lead the Victorian life, surrounded by exquisite clutter,' rockstar Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen, is quoted as saying. From the moment he acquired his home, Garden Lodge, in London's Kensington, he transformed it into a dazzling temple of arts and antiques connoisseurship that lasted over a decade, from 1980 until his untimely death in 1991. For Mercury, a trained artist, it was a place to relax with friends and he filled it with the paintings, antiques, decorative objects and oriental textiles that he adored. Many of these items were purchased at auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's, and a number of specialists remember him coming in for pre-sale viewings.

At the heart of the collection was Mercury's private refuge, the Japanese room, furnished with wood-cut prints by the likes of Utagawa Hiroshige, oriental-style antique furniture and chinoiserie. The pieces were amassed on six Queen tours to Japan, as well as frequent personal trips to stock up on traditional and contemporary clothing and art.

Elsewhere in Garden Lodge, brightly coloured walls were hung with works on paper by Braque, Chagall, Matisse and Picasso, all jostling for attention with sets of porcelain in display cupboards, and Japanese silks and textiles, including kimonos. One month before he died, at the age of just 45, Mercury was still shopping, and his final purchase at Christie's was a James Tissot portrait of his muse and mistress, Kathleen Newton. The painting of Kathleen wrapped in a scarlet shawl hung in the drawing room of Garden Lodge, opposite the sofa, so that the singer could gaze at it even though his body was failing.