Lock of Mozart’s hair going under the hammer at Sotheby’s
May 26, 2015, 7:48 AM
Gallery assistant Sandra Handley poses for photographs with a lock of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's hair, contained in a 19th-century gilt locket at the Sotheby's auction house in London, Tuesday, May 26, 2015. The lock of hair is estimated to fetch 10,000 to 12,000 pounds ($15,383 to $18,459, euro14,109 to 16,931) as part of the Music, Continental and Russian Books and Manuscripts auction on Thursday May 28 in London. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
LONDON (AP) — Music lovers have the chance to own a strand of history.
Auctioneer Sotheby’s is selling a lock of hair from the head of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, resting in a gilt locket.
Taking composers’ hair as keepsakes was common in the 18th and 19th centuries.
After Mozart died in 1791, aged 35, his widow gave the hair to the mother of German composer Karl Anschutz. It was acquired by the late British composer Arthur Sommervell and is being sold by his family.
The hair is up for auction Thursday with an estimated price of 10,000 pounds to 12,000 pounds ($15,400 to $18,450).
The sale also includes a lock of Ludwig van Beethoven’s hair and an invitation to his 1827 funeral, together valued at 2,000 pounds to 3,000 pounds ($3,100 to $4,600).
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