Diaries and a gift from actor Carrie Fisher are among the personal items from Marianne Faithfull that are going up for auction in London.
The musician died in January aged 78, leaving behind a cache of fascinating portraits, photographs and ephemera from a glamorous, sometimes troubled life. “Each piece tells a story and reflects her spirit and inimitable taste,” her son Nicholas Dunbar said. “It is time now for these belongings to find new homes and I hope that they will bring as much joy to their new owners as they did Marianne.”
The diaries include one from 1959 when Faithfull was in her early teens, and a 1989 journal entitled Goals. Artworks include a print by South African artist Marlene Dumas with the inscription “Say it in Broken English”, a reference to one of Faithfull’s most iconic lyrics; Babylon, a work on paper by Anita Pallenberg, who was in Faithfull’s social circle alongside the Rolling Stones; and Abductee, a collage by Australian pop artist Martin Sharp.
Furniture from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries is up for sale, along with items from Faithfull’s wardrobe, including a Louis Vuitton by Marc Jacobs black wool coat.
A trunk belonging to Fisher and gifted to Faithfull is expected to sell for between £1,000 and £1,500.
The singer and actor were “very, very close” according to the singer Rufus Wainwright, who paid tribute to Faithfull in the Guardian after her death. “I had several wild evenings seated between them, kind of along for the ride. They were completely classic, original legends, who seemed to live in a universe all their own, and it was very decadent, incredibly funny and totally rock’n’roll.”
Faithfull became an icon of swinging-60s London, with pop hits including As Tears Go By and an acting career with roles opposite the likes of Orson Welles and Alain Delon. She was a muse to the Rolling Stones and co-wrote the song Sister Morphine, which she recorded and was covered by the Stones on Sticky Fingers.
But she became addicted to cocaine and heroin, and spent some years homeless in London, before getting clean in the 1980s and rebuilding her music career, going on to record with artists including Nick Cave, Damon Albarn and Metallica.
The auction items are on view at Bonham’s in Knightsbridge as part of their Sound & Cinema auction, which will run until 3 December. The auction house’s pop culture specialist Rebecca Anthony heralded Faithfull as “a cultural icon with an exceptional sense of style and lasting legacy, we are delighted to bring items from her personal collection to auction for the first time”.
