Freddie Mercury’s World – Part 3 – Garden Lodge Furniture

Two photos side by side. On the left is Freddie Mercury's Dragon Throne, a Chinese carved wooden armchair. The back is carved in the form of two dragons, with a solid seat and scroll and dragon-carved legs. On the right are a couple of photos on the marble top of a desk, one showing Freddie cuddling one of his cats, the other showing a cat playing. The bottom of an ornate picture frame can be seen on the wall above.

Welcome to the third part of my look back at the exhibition Freddie Mercury: A World Of His Own, which took place at Sotheby’s in London in August 2023, prior to the big auction in September that year. Last week I gave an introduction to the auctions and looked at Freddie’s love of Japanese art and fashion and other items from that country, and now for this post we’re going to start looking around his famous home in London.

Garden Lodge was the 7-bedroom house in Kensington where Freddie resided during the 1980s until his death in 1991. He really made it his own, purposefully decorating and furnishing each room in its own unique style. Reading about it in the accompanying book, with the photos used to illustrate it, emphasises how utterly exquisite it was.

Double-page spread, from the book accompanying the Freddie Mercury exhibition at Sotheby's. This section of the book is entitled Behind The Green Door, with text about Freddie's life at Garden Lodge on one page, and a picture of the garden on the other page.

Back in 1980 he bought it for £500,000 in cash (over £2 million in today’s money), as he was keen to snap it up after his first visit. But when it went back on the market in February 2024, estate agent Knight Frank was seeking offers of over £30 million! It’s not clear if it’s been sold or for how much since then.

A white board on the Freddie Mercury timeline in Sotheby's. Alongside a picture of the wooden front door of Garden Lodge, with bushes each side of the narrow pathway, is text that reads 1980 - Garden Lodge. In 1980, Freddie took possession of Garden Lodge, a Neo-Georgian, eight-bedroom townhouse in London's Kensington district. Freddie's beloved sanctuary was surrounded by an eight-foot high wall, accessed through a distinctive green door.

The At Home auction didn’t fetch quite that much, but the huge myriad of items, which had to be spread across multiple gallery rooms in Sotheby’s, altogether fetched a massive £5,314,823!

So I’m going to share a wide selection of furniture and accessories from Garden Lodge that I saw in the galleries, which I’m spreading over 2 posts as there’s so much of it. Most of these items are from the At Home auction, but there are a few from the other auctions mixed in.

As before, you can click on the images to enlarge them and the item names to see the Sotheby’s descriptions. I hope you enjoy!

Contents

Grand Piano & Gramophone

By way of transition from the previous gallery, there were a couple of impressive musical items which weren’t actually from Japan, but were decorated in what’s called a Japanning style, effectively imitating lacquer work from that part of the world. So while they were sold in the At Home auction, they were actually placed among the Japanese exhibits in the gallery.

The first was a gramophone made in London by W. A. Webber that looked pretty cool and well used, and sold for £60,960.

A tall, free-standing cased gramophone. The gilt and red decorated black japanned cabinet is decorated with Japanese scenes, people and motifs, and the hinged top is open to reveal a wind-up record player. There is a hinged shutter for the integral speaker below, above a pair of cupboard doors, all of which are ornately decorated.
Close-up of the record player under the hinged lid of a Japanese decorated gramophone.
Rear view of a tall, free-standing cased gramophone. The back panel is plain, but the back of the lid at the top, which is open to reveal the record player at the front, is ornately decorated with gold leaf patterns.
The rear of the open lid for a record player on top of a tall, free-standing cased gramophone. The lid is ornately decorated with gold leaf patterning.
A cased gramophone by W. A. Webber, London, circa 1930.

But even more impressive was a beautiful Chinoiserie Grand Piano by John Broadwood & Sons, which Freddie had got in New York in 1977 and used at Stafford Terrace. It then moved with him to Garden Lodge, where it became the centrepiece of his Japanese Room, positioned in the bay window. It was given a prominent central spot in the exhibition space as well, so people could view it from all angles, and it sold for a whopping £444,500!

Front view of a black grand piano decorated with figures in stylised landscapes, raised on square tapered legs, terminating in brass cappings and castors, in the centre of a busy exhibition room in Sotheby's. In front of the piano is a stool with a white pattern of flowers and foliage against a black background on the seat cover.
Front keyboard and upper panel of a black grand piano decorated with figures in stylised landscapes.
Close up of the logo for John Broadwood & Sons, below a coat of arms and the words By Appointment, printed in gold above the keys on a black grand piano.
Artwork of a young person running from a pagoda among trees on the right, across slightly bumpy ground towards an adult by a tree on the left. It's predominantly in gold with some reds and greens, and is painted on the upper front panel of a black grand piano.
Left side view of a black grand piano decorated with figures in stylised landscapes, in the centre of a busy exhibition room in Sotheby's.
Decorations of stylised Japanese figures and buildings in predominantly gold colours on the raised top panel of a black grand piano.
Decorations of stylised Japanese figures and buildings in predominantly gold colours on the left side panel of a black grand piano.
Rear view of a black grand piano decorated with figures in stylised landscapes, in the centre of a busy exhibition room in Sotheby's. The top panel of the piano is raised to reveal the strings and workings inside.

S. Hille & Co Suite

The stool placed with the piano above in the gallery wasn’t the same one that was included with the instrument in the sale. Instead, it’s a separate lot entitled Freddie’s Favourite Piano Stool, which fetched £48,260. He’d bought it as part of a suite from Harrods for Stafford Terrace in the same year as the above grand piano, though he mainly used it with his Yamaha grand instead. But it goes perfectly well with this one too.

Other items I saw from that particular suite, attributed to S. Hille & Co in around 1920-30, included:

With the exception of the Chippendale table, all of those items of furniture are made of English gilt and black japanned satinwood.

A piano stool with the black seat cover decorated with a pattern of gold flowers and foliage.
A square wooden table and 2 chairs. The table has an additional shelf underneath it, which is smaller than the top of the table, so is supported by poles diagonally coming out from each leg. A colourful bowl is on this lower shelf, while on the top of the table is a white vase with a scene painted on it that looks like someone by a rowing boat on a beach beneath a blue sky. The vase is filled with a huge, overflowing arrangement of white flowers. The back of each chair has an ornate carving going vertically up the centre, with space either side between the carving and the outer frame.
Tall wooden display cabinet featuring two glazed doors with ornate gold detailing curving across the windows, and a stylised pagoda on the top. The glass shelves inside are filled with little statues, vases and other trinkets.
Close-up of the statues, vases and other objects through the two glazed doors of a display cabinet.
A wooden table with the beams between the legs connected in an X shape, next to two matching armchairs. A statue, push button phone and vase stand on the table. Above the table is a large, wide mirror, either side of which is a Japanese woodblock print.
A large rectangular mirror with curved corners on the wooden frame, with artwork of figures in the middle of each side of the frame, and a stylised pagoda above on the top.
A wooden table with the beams between the legs connected in an X shape, and a white statue, a cream push button phone and a white vase with red artwork standing on top.
A white statue of a figure in a long flowing robe.

Chinese Items

A rather striking item from another Asian country was the Chinese carved Dragon Throne (£44,450), a stunningly designed armchair that was one of the first items of furniture Freddie got after his graduation from Art School.

Freddie Mercury's Dragon Throne, a Chinese carved wooden armchair. The back is carved in the form of two dragons, with a solid seat and scroll and dragon-carved legs.

Other nice items from China in the exhibition included:

A large silver bowl called a jardiniere, with a bulging centre decorated with flowering branches and birds. It's stood on a round Chinese hardwood stand, with thick curly detailing carved around the edge.
A black lacquer cabinet with colourful Chinese-style artwork of stylised flowers and foliage.
A Chinese lantern, black in colour, in the form of a winged phoenix on a tall fruiting and foliate stem and stepped rockwork base. In its beat, the phoenix is suspending a black and painted silk pagoda lantern.
Close-up of the top of a Chinese lantern, where a black winged phoenix is suspending a black and painted silk pagoda lantern from its beak.
A Chinese hardwood console, the top curving slightly upwards at each end and 2 drawers beneath. On the table are 2 iron red vases that look bright orange in the light. Each is decorated in gilt on an iron red ground, the first has a tapering neck and has a design that depicts lotus leaves and flowers in meandering waters, while the second has a short neck and is decorated with autumnal flowers and grasses.
A six-sided stool in black lacquer, decorated with colourful artwork of flowers and birds.
The top of a black lacquer cabinet with a colourful design of flowers and greenery covering some of the surface.

Victorian Desk

Next we have a Victorian kneehole desk, which sold for £15,240 and had a lot of odds and ends on it. It was impossible to take close-up photos of every little thing, but I did snap the sketchbook, because Freddie was quite the talented artist in more ways than just music – and it fetched more than 3 times the price of the desk, selling for £50,800!

Another thing I only noticed later when looking back at the photo was a strange brass inkwell in the shape of a person’s head, that went for £8,255. There’s also a very cute framed photo of Freddie lying on the floor with one of his cats. That was the great thing about being able to take lots of photos on the day, because I could then see more detail later on when I had the time to go through them, including when lots of items were grouped together like this.

A Victorian maple and tulipwood-banded kneehole desk. There are 4 drawers across the top of the desk, with 3 more down each of the left and right hand sides. There is an inset space between those left and right sets of drawers. Various items are on the desk, including a sketchpad, a lamp, a framed photo of Freddie Mercury laying on a black and white chequered floor with his cat, a cream-coloured old style rotary phone, and a brass inkwell in the shape of a person's head for which you lift the top of the head to access the ink inside.
Freddie Mercury's sketchbook, open to a page with a drawing of a flowers in a vase and an item of furniture.

Biedermeier Style

Moving on, and we have some objects in a Biedermeier style from the 19th century. These included two chests of drawers – one with ebony, parquetry and sycamore (£8,890), and another with ebony and maple (£13,970) – plus a large wall mirror (£8,255).

The Japanese lacquer accessory box on the ebony and maple chest sold for £10,795, while there were 3 more Japanese lacquer boxes on the other chest, consisting of a tiered box (£5,715), a circular box (£10,160) and a second tiered box (£11,430).

An ebony and maple chest of drawers, with one narrow drawer at the top and 2 larger ones beneath. The middle drawer has an arched painted panel in the centre depicting a griffin.
An ebony, parquetry and sycamore chest of drawers, with 1 narrow drawer at the top, 2 slightly larger drawers beneath, and a much larger drawer at the bottom. The bottom drawer has an arched painted panel in the centre of a lady stretching out on her side on the ground with a child sat next to her.
A tall wall mirror in a gilt-bronze frame, with a wooden panel at the top above the mirror. The mirror is reflecting the large sideboard from Freddie Mercury's dining room.

Dresser & Commode

In the mirror above you can see a reflection of the large beech dresser from Freddie’s kitchen, which had a matching table as well, and they sold for £16,510 and £11,430 respectively.

A large beech kitchen dresser. At the top are 2 single cupboards either side of a double cupboard, with clear glass windows so you can see the array of crockery inside. Below that is a large worktop area extending outwards, on which are a few bowls, a vase, a silver tray, and a small framed photo of Freddie Mercury wearing a yellow outfit, sitting down with what appears to be a black cat on his lap. Below the worktop are more cupboards, again with a single cupboard each side of a double. But this time they're just wooden doors with no glass, and there are drawers above them, single and double width to match the relevant cupboards.
The top section of a large beech kitchen dresser. At the top are 2 single cupboards either side of a double cupboard, with clear glass windows so you can see the array of crockery inside. Below that is a large worktop area extending outwards, on which are a few bowls, a vase, a silver tray, and a small framed photo of Freddie Mercury wearing a yellow outfit, sitting down with what appears to be a black cat on his lap.
A large beech wood kitchen table.

There was another little framed photo of Freddie with one of his cats on that dresser too, and there were a few more on top of a French bombé commode (£15,240) later in the gallery. I liked the way they dotted those photos around the exhibition as little extras to spot, as it really made it feel like Freddie’s personal space rather than just a mix of antique furnishings.

A painting of a young Venetian woman with two copper kettles resting on her arm, above a French commode desk on which are photos of Freddie and his cats.
A French commode desk with a marble top on which are photos of Freddie Mercury and his cats. The front of the commode has 2 long drawers, one above the other, with ornate gold handles at each end, while the front overall is painted to show 4 people relaxing in a green landscape, along with other ornate detailing.
3 photos of Freddie Mercury and his cats. The first shows him smiling as he sits back with a black and white cat resting on his chest. The second shows a black and white cat laying on grass and looking behind it while a small ball sits by its front paws. And the third photo shows Freddie standing and holding a black cat up to his face so he can give it a kiss on the cheek.

Ornate Mirrors

The mirror mentioned above is very plain though, when compared to these much more ornate examples, which make looking at the frame much more interesting than the reflection:

A lamp made from a tall, thin blue vase decorated with white flowery patterns, with a stripy lampshade. On the wall behind it as a George III mirror with a very elaborate and ornate gold frame.
A George III mirror with a very elaborate and ornate gold frame.
Close-up of the top of the ornate frame surrounding a George III mirror.
A George II style mirror with an ornately decorated gold frame, including foliage-style detail, and a small boy's head with wings either side at the top.
Close-up of the top of a George II style mirror with an ornately decorated gold frame, including foliage-style detail and a small boy's head with wings either side.
Close-up of the bottom of a George II style mirror with an ornately decorated gold frame, including foliage-style detail.

Settee & Object Collections

Another big attraction was an L-shaped settee (£13,970), which had pretty decorated gold fabric and looked very comfortable.

A large 5-seater L-shaped settee covered in ornately decorated gold fabric.

But there was also a glass covered table next to it, which included lots of nice bits and pieces, including:

A porcelain tea service, each piece painted with figures on a pale lavender background with gilded borders and pierced gilded collared feet.
Various items on a table, including a collection of Sotheby's and Christie's auction catalogues, a collection of Queen books including songbooks, tour programmes and fan magazines, plus a selection of ornate glass items by Rene Lalique including boxes, a square dish containing colourful fake bonbon sweets, and a lighter with an ashtray.
Various items on a table. At the top is a porcelain tea service, each piece painted with figures on a pale lavender background with gilded borders and pierced gilded collared feet. On the left is a collection of Queen books including songbooks, tour programmes and fan magazines. And on the right is a collection of Sotheby's and Christie's auction catalogues.
A collection of Queen books, including songbooks, tour programmes, fan magazines, etc. The top item on the pile shows the band posing together, with John, Brian and Roger standing while Freddie sits with his legs astride in front of them, his white shirt open to reveal a bit of his chest.
A couple of small ornate glass boxes by René Lalique.

There was also an Empire style stool and an armchair, which sold for £17,780 and £27,940 respectively. These were bought by Freddie from Sotheby’s in 1990 and 1991 for an apartment he had in Montreux.

A mahogany stool with a padded seat upholstered in a red ground satin cover, with a design of repeating gold wing motifs. Next to this is a mahogany and giltwood armchair with red and cream striped velvet covers on the seat cushion and the top section of the back panel. Just beneath the front ends of the arms are gold supports in the form of winged lions.

Another item holding a variety of objects in the exhibition was a French gilt-bronze mounted kingwood and carved walnut centre table (£7,620). Among the various knick-knacks tucked away in the big glass case on top of it were:

And that’s just on the left end. I’m not going to try and list them all, as most are hard to find on the website without being able to see their lot numbers.

A French gilt-bronze mounted kingwood and carved walnut centre table, with wavy edges to the table top and some ornate leafy details around the sides of the table. The table is filled with a wide variety of objects, protected by a large glass case with 2 lamps standing on top of it.
Various objects in a glass case on a table, including a red rotary telephone, an ornate black glass box, and a statue of a topless woman looking at herself in a handheld mirror.
Various objects in a glass case on a table, including a couple of ornately decorated paddles, small statues, and a small black collar with the word Pig on it.
Various objects in a glass case on a table, including glass perfume bottles, an ink stamp and a small leather item with round metal spikes all the way down it.

Lots of crockery and a few other items could be found in this tall 19th century French gilt-bronze mounted vitrine, which sold for £10,160. The top shelf contains a striking yellow Fürstenberg chinoiserie cabaret that went for £8,890.

A tall gilt-bronze mounted 19th century display case with 2 doors featuring full length windows, curved edging and gold detailing. 3 glass shelves inside split the case into 4 sections, each of which is populated with colourful crockery and other items like little statues and vases.
Items of crockery inside a display case, including a set with ornate artwork that's mainly yellow and white in colour with black drawings and lines for detail.
Items of crockery in various colourful designs, plus a couple of small statues, inside a display case.

Daybed

A special corner space in the exhibition had a beautiful Louis XV style daybed from the late 19th century, which sold for £88,900, surrounded by other furniture and artworks. You could easily imagine Freddie lying back here to relax.

The little statue on the cabinet next to it is a Meissen porcelain figure, known as the ‘Kugelspielerin’, which sold for £8,255. The display case at the bottom end of the bed, meanwhile, is a French gilt-bronze mounted mahogany and vernis martin display cabinet, which went for £10,795 and held crockery and statues in a similar style to the display case above.

A day bed with a carved giltwood frame, and upholstered with a cream ground fabric decorated with flowering trees and landscape in light pink, purple, green and beige. There is a small wooden cabinet with a vase of flowers and a small statue of a woman near the top end of the bed, and a larger display case with a carriage clock on top at the opposite end. The furniture is set into a corner space, with 6 artworks spread across the walls.
Viewed from the side, a day bed with a carved giltwood frame, and upholstered with a cream ground fabric decorated with flowering trees and landscape in light pink, purple, green and beige.
Viewed from the bottom end, a day bed with a carved giltwood frame, and upholstered with a cream ground fabric decorated with flowering trees and landscape in light pink, purple, green and beige.
A day bed with a carved giltwood frame, and upholstered with a cream ground fabric decorated with flowering trees and landscape in light pink, purple, green and beige. To the right is a small cabinet, on which is a vase of flowers and a small porcelain statue of a woman leaning forward as she holds a round gold object in her hand, as if offering it to someone much smaller than her. Near the bottom end of the bed is a large display case with glass shelves holding colourful crockery and small statues.
A wooden display cabinet with gold detailing across the top, and a painted panel at the bottom showing two seated figures and a sheep. Through the large glass window of the cabinet we can see the 2 glass shelves inside. These divide the cabinet into 3 spaces, which are filled with colourful crockery and statues. The back of the cabinet's interior is mirrored, reflecting its contents.
A French gilt-bronze mounted mahogany and vernis martin display cabinet, late 19th/early 20th century. In Louis XVI style, with a breccia marble top, above a glazed door opening to reveal two shelves and a mirrored back, on a painted panel with two seated figures and a sheep, on cabriole legs.
Colourful crockery and statues on glass shelves inside a French gilt-bronze mounted mahogany and vernis martin display cabinet.
Colourful crockery and statues on glass shelves inside a French gilt-bronze mounted mahogany and vernis martin display cabinet.

Conclusion

And that’s where I’ll leave it for now. Come back tomorrow to see even more furniture, including items from Freddie’s conservatory and dining room, and special pieces that were sold in the Evening Sale. See you then!

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Author: Glen

Love London, love a laugh, love life. Visually impaired blogger, culture vulture & accessibility advocate, with aniridia & nystagmus, posting about my experiences & adventures.

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