Mike Brooks
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If you have a few thousand dollars to spare, The Rolling Stones’ iconic items from their famed career are for sale.
Dallas-based Heritage Auction will host “Satisfaction: The Rolling Stones Treasures from the Ali Zayeri Collection” on Dec. 4. Some 185 items, including stage-worn costumes, instruments, posters for early gigs and more from the band’s early years. Leading the sale is the Harmony Stratotone electric guitar of late co-founder Brian Jones, with a starting bid of $100,000 and is expected to fetch up to $400,000.
Courtesy of Heritage Auctions
“Brian Jones’s humble Harmony Stratotone stands as one of the most important instruments in rock and roll history,” says Charles Epting, Director of Consignments at Heritage Auctions. “It was the electric guitar he played on the band’s earliest demos and at their early club gigs, and the very one heard on the band’s debut single, a cover of Chuck Berry’s ‘Come On,’ which introduced The Stones to the world. Perhaps even more importantly, this was the guitar Jones used to teach a young Keith Richards, helping shape the partnership that would define the band’s sound for decades.”
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“The memory is vivid, as if etched in vinyl grooves,” says Ali Zayeri about discovering the band. “I was 16 when ‘Paint It Black’ first reached my ears, and in that moment, something shifted. The Rolling Stones spoke to a wilder rhythm than The Beatles ever could for me. I began collecting every piece I could at the time – magazines, newspaper clippings, programs. Now, so many years later, their music remains a time machine, carrying me back to that rockin’ young man with dreams as loud as the music he adored.”
Jones, who left the group in 1969 and died soon after, has another item up for sale: a suede jacket with fringe detailing, custom-made for the musician by designer Ossie Clark.
Courtesy of Heritage Auctions
Also for sale is a designer silk jacket owned and worn by Mick Jagger and another owned and worn by Keith Richards, both circa 1967. Cymbals signed by Charlie Watts have a starting bid of $1,000.
Courtesy of Heritage Auctions
An extremely rare and early concert poster promoting The Rolling Stones’ performance in Guildford is estimated to be worth $20,000-40,000. Additionally, an unused album cover sleeve of the unreleased Rolling Stones album titled We Love You is also expected to be worth $10,000-$20,000.
Courtesy of Heritage Auctions
Courtesy of Heritage Auctions
“The high estimate on the sale is just north of 1.3 million. Obviously, certain key pieces like [Jones’] guitar, the jackets we hope will find new homes and could potentially push that price even higher,” Epting said to Reuters. “I think collector interest will be high from all parts of the world because there are few bands that transcend language, borders, anything like the Rolling Stones.”
An auction preview will take place at Heritage’s London location on Nov.10-14, 17-21, and 24-28.
For the rest of us, you can view the items from the greatest rock band of all time on Heritage Auction’s website, where the auction is now open. Good luck bidding.
