With certain collectible pianos, “it’s like anything in the art world,” Winston continues. “If it’s got a verified provenance, they’ve gone up in value a lot. But it’s a limited supply—it’s harder and harder to get these things, so they do work as an investment if you get the right instrument.”
The Top Lots
One of the top lots is a piano made by Pleyel, a French manufacturer preferred by luminaries including Chopin and Stravinsky.
The instrument was made in 1925 with an “Auto Pleyela,” a self-playing mechanism that was put into a case (basically, the outside of the piano) painted in a chinoiserie style. That piano has an estimate of £40,000 to £60,000.
A double Pleyel piano, Winston says, is one of only 50 ever made and was purchased in 1946 by the concert pianist Madeleine Lioux, who also happened to be the wife of the politician and novelist André Malraux.
“It’s a really fascinating instrument,” Winston says. “It’s very different than if two people are playing side-by-side. This is one instrument responding to two players at the same time.” That piano is estimated from £30,000 to £50,000.
Other works have similarly rich backstories.
There’s a Bluthner piano from 1854 that carries the signature of the Polish pianist and future Prime Minister Jan Paderewski, estimated to sell for £6,000 to £8,000; a grand piano made by Chapell that was used on the second Mauretania carries the same estimates. There’s also a rare Arts and Crafts-style grand piano made by John Broadwood & Sons from 1904, which was owned at one point by Andy Warhol’s boyfriend, Jed Johnson, and, at a separate date, the Forbes collection. That carries an estimate of £12,000 to £18,000.
Auction Anxiety
Winston says he’s selling his entire collection, aside from a lone harpsichord.
“It’s a little strange,” he says. “You’re used to looking at sale announcements for people who died, and I’m still very much alive.”
During the auction, he’ll probably “go lock myself in a room and tell someone to let me know when it’s over.”
He already has a hunch that things will go well. “My client base is really international,” he says, “and it’s amazing how fast the word has spread that these are coming up for sale.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.