March 06, 2004
Eric Clapton to Auction 56 Guitars in June, 2004, Including "Blackie"
by Tom Watson
According to news source AFP, Eric Clapton has announced his intention to sell 56 guitars at auction on June 24, 2004, to raise money for the drug rehabilitation clinic, Crossroads Centre, located in Antigua, West Indies. The auction will include the famous Clapton Stratocaster known as "Blackie".
AFP quotes an unidentified Christie's auction house representative who stated that, according to Clapton, "I am selling the cream of my collection. What I am keeping back is just what I need to work with." The AFP article also quotes Clapton about the upcoming auction: "These guitars are in fact the ones that I kept back from the first auction because I seriously couldn't consider parting with them at that point. I think they are a really good representation of rock culture, . . . all great rock and blues guitars."
The auction will be held at Christie's Rockefeller Center facility in New York city, site of the famous 1999 Clapton auction in which 105 Clapton-owned guitars were auctioned. While it was anticipated that the 1999 auction would raise approximately $750,000, the event earned $5,072,350 (including auction buyer premiums paid to Christie's). The 1999 auction also set a world record for the highest price ever paid for a publicly sold guitar when Clapton's "Brownie" Stratocaster brought $497,500.
For further information regarding the 1999 auction, a Japan-based Eric Clapton fan site has compiled a complete list of the 105 lots sold, including images of each lot, anticipated sales price, and actual final price.
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Published March 6, 2004 02:30 PM.