“It’s so personal,” says Claire Tole-Moir, Head of the Collectors' and Popular Culture & Science departments at Bonhams. “It’s all about what resonates with someone – a particular song or film, a personal relic, an item that conjures up nostalgia for a certain scene (whether they were there or not) – and then seeing how that resonates with someone else.”

In the 10 years she has worked at Bonhams Knightsbridge, Claire has seen many items in which people find their own personal significance. The music-filled previews of her Rock, Pop & Film sales often see people overcome with excitement at finding a ticket from a concert they attended, their favourite album signed by all four Beatles, or a prop from a TV show they loved when they were younger. “For me it’s Friends,” says Claire. I was addicted to the series when I was growing up. And now we’re offering a Friends script for the first time at Bonhams – ‘The One With Ross's Wedding - Part I' – that's really special to me.”

Nostalgia is a big part of the appeal of Popular Culture sales. It is not often you get the chance to own the one-of-a-kind guitar used by your favourite artist to compose the song that was playing when you had your first kiss, for example. For some that chance might be coming up when the guitar Eric Clapton used to write the love song Wonderful Tonight is offered at Bonhams in June. “It’s a classic, and a song that means so much to so many people,” says Claire.

A particularly memorable, and indeed sentimental lot, which Claire brought to auction in 2019 was the Vox Phantom guitar that Ian Curtis used in the music video for Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart. It was offered by Curtis’s daughter, Natalie. With very few items connected to Curtis appearing at auction, this was a rare opportunity for fans to acquire something owned of the singer, who died in 1980 aged 23. “Natalie had the guitar her whole life, but for her it was her father,” says Claire. “When it sold for more than two times its estimate that validated how special it was, not just to her but for others who felt a connection to Ian and to the band. For Natalie, it was time to let it go.”

For Claire, working with clients is one of the best things about her job, especially those who don’t realise how valuable their item might be. There have been many occasions she’s walked into a house on a valuation and the walls are covered by posters and music memorabilia. Take legendary tour manager Craig Duffy: “His house was like a museum.” Or when there is just one treasured item that's brought out. “Either way it’s an exciting conversation because it’s all about the story and connecting with the owner. It’s being able to value how they felt or feel about the item and how it might resonate with others.”

She is particularly proud of the number of charity sales and lots she has worked on, especially when it means offering something directly from the source. “A lot of celebrities want to use their power and impact for positive change. Being able to work directly with artists and studios, and for them to donate something that they have at home, then watch it soar at auction is really rewarding. We have helped raise so much money over the years, for Oxfam, Earth percent, In Place Of War, BAFTA, and many others. We have charity lots in pretty much every sale and that direct connection with the artist, the item offered being directly from the source, that is something really special.”

A particular highlight was working with Kate Moss and Chris Levine to offer a picture in aid of Oxfam at one of the British. Cool. sales. “The support they gave us on social media was fantastic. It’s a moment when you go ‘wow, look at this buzz’. That's really fun.”

Claire says her personal interest in popular culture was sparked by a fascination with costume and storytelling. “I studied costume throughout history as part of my History of Art degree at Nottingham,” she notes. “I remember exploring  the integral part clothes can play in a musician’s look and how they perform on stage, and of course how important they are for actors and actresses when it comes to characters in film.” 

We discuss how this connects to the fascination others have for items owned by, or somehow connected, to celebrities. “The market is definitely expanding, or more, it’s constantly evolving. Demographics are changing, and so a generation that grew up with Punk may now have the disposable income to buy a piece of their nostalgia. Whether it’s clothes or a guitar, they are often part of the image of the musician you love, and so buying these relics of a rockstar bring you closer to them in a way.”

The cult of celebrity is of course nothing new, “it just now feels more present with the advent of social media,” notes Claire. This expansion has even gone so far as to mean the next sale has an early handwritten interview with Taylor Swift. “She's 34 years old and she’s hopefully will be performing for many years to come, but yet here we are seeing a rare item connected to her at auction. Her songs spark so much passion in her fans, that they are bound to transcend time. It’s all about people’s obsessions . We’ll see what comes next.”

Sasha Thomas is Senior Press Officer at Bonhams