A guitar that once belonged to Surrey-based rock icon Eric Clapton is up for sale in a dedicated two-day online entertainment memorabilia auction at Ewbank’s Auctions on 21 and 22 May.
The guitar is a Gibson Kalamazoo, dating from the late 1930s, with a sun-burnt finish, laminated body with checker binding and a 19-fret rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays. The instrument, which carries a guide price of between £10,000-15,000, was purchased by a private collector from Christie’s in New York on 24 June 1999, as part of a special sale of Clapton’s guitars to raise money for The Crossroads Centre, a rehabilitation centre in Antigua that Clapton founded in the late 1990s.
The current owner has held onto the guitar for the past twenty years and stated: “Eric Clapton bought this guitar in Memphis primarily for collecting rather than playing purposes. He did tell us however that it was ‘around’ during the Pilgrim recording sessions.”
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Clapton (b. 1945), who lives in Ewhurst, is one of the world’s most revered guitar players. With famous hits like ‘Layla’, ‘Wonderful Tonight’ and ‘Tears in Heaven’, he is the only person to ever be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times (once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of bands The Yardbirds and Cream).
Other items in the Ewbank’s Auctions’ sale include more exciting pieces for music fans and collectors, for instance a four colour machine-print photo of the individual members of The Beatles, taken around 1964, each signed by the subjects at a later date.
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A copy of David Bowie’s official international fan club newsletter from 1978, signed by Bowie in black pen and dedicated ‘For Steve! Many thanks David Bowie ‘78’ is also for sale. It comes with a signed certificate of authenticity, which states the autograph as one of the finest examples seen from 1978.
