Music

Over 1500 items from Freddie Mercury's personal collection of 'clutter' up for auction

From a silver moustache comb to handwritten lyrics of 'We are the Champions' items range from a few hundred dollars to around $1.2 million.

Freddie Mercury's broad collection of 'eclectic clutter' including costumes worn on stage, 19th-century art and many other weird and wonderful things collected on his travels will be up for auction in September this year.

Close friend Mary Austin made the 'difficult decision' to sell the contents that had largely remained untouched in Mercury's London home since his passing in 1991.

A 19th-century painting by French artist James Jacques Tissot depicting his Irish muse and mistress Kathleen Newton is estimated to sell for between £400,000 - £600,000 (NZ$815,000 to $1.2 million), the most expensive item currently listed.

At the other end of the scale, likely to be one of the cheapest items in the auction, a silver Tiffany & Co comb used by the King of Queen, has been valued at around $815 to $1222.

The rhinestone-studded crown said to be modelled off St Edwards Crown, and donned by Mercury alongside an expansive red velvet and fake fur coat during Queen's final show in 1986 is expected to fetch between $122,000 to $163,000.

Nine pages of lyrics to the iconic show-closing 'We are the Champions' handwritten by Queen's lead singer are supposedly worth more than triple the crown, at roughly $407,000 to $611,000.

Also included in the auction are Mercury's 1975 Martin D-35 acoustic guitar in its original case, a Fabergé gem set, and a hand-painted silk waistcoat featuring his cats - Delilah, Goliath, Lily, Miko, Romeo and Oscar.

Some of the items will be exhibited in New York, Lost Angeles and Hong Kong in June prior to the auction later in the year.

The auction will be held over three days in September and a portion of the money made will be donated to the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the Elton John Aids Foundation.