The Jim Irsay Collection
General Enquires | Private & Iconic Collections
The Jim Irsay Collection: Hall of Fame
拍卖简介
The Jim Irsay Collection is a chorus of cultural touchstones – chronicling one of the greatest collections of music, film and sports memorabilia, historic Americana and American literature ever assembled. Guitars and other instruments played by The Beatles, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Jerry Garcia, Kurt Cobain, Elton John, Prince, Johnny Cash, Janis Joplin, John Coltrane and Miles Davis; items linked to sporting legends including Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson, Wayne Gretzky and even Secretariat; and original manuscripts by Jack Kerouac, Jim Morrison and Steve Jobs. This unparalleled collection, of exceptional scope and rarity, weaves together some of the most significant people, literature and events of recent history.
On the evening of 12 March, The Jim Irsay Collection: Hall of Fame will feature some of the most important cultural objects of the 20th century. Highlights of Jim Irsay’s mesmerizing collection of guitars include Kurt Cobain’s Competition Mustang, famously played in the music video for Nirvana’s generational anthem Smells Like Teen Spirit; David Gilmour’s legendary ‘Black Strat’; Jerry Garcia’s Doug Irwin custom-built guitar ‘Tiger’; George Harrison’s Gibson SG; Eric Clapton’s ‘The Fool’ SG; and John Lennon’s Rose-Morris Rickenbacker. Other iconic objects collected by Jim Irsay include Ringo Starr’s first Ludwig drumkit, Elton John’s Steinway Model D grand piano, Muhammad Ali’s WBC Championship Belt won following his victory over George Foreman at the “Rumble in the Jungle”, and the original typescript scroll of Jack Kerouac’s literary masterpiece On the Road, the seminal text of the Beat Generation.
This auction will offer collectors the rarest of opportunities to become the next custodians of objects that have shaped creativity, inspired generations and continue to shine as beacons of our shared creative legacy.
Pre-order the limited-edition catalogue here: store.christies.com
拍卖时间
3月12日 下午05:00 (美国东部夏令时间)
White Glove
无论身在何方，都可参与竞投
荣誉呈献
Nathalie Ferneau
Head of Sale, Junior Specialist | Private & Iconic Collections
Nathalie Ferneau is a junior specialist in the Private and Iconic collections department. She has acted as head of sale for exciting Iconic sales such as The Collection of André Leon Talley (2023), The Collection of Sir Elton John: Goodbye Peachtree Road (2023) and most recently Unapologetically Iris: The Collection of Iris Apfel (2025). Nathalie has also contributed to landmark collection sales such as The Ann and Gordon Getty Collection (2022-2023) and Gen One: Innovations from the Paul G. Allen Collection (2024).
Prior to joining the Private and Iconic team, Nathalie worked in the Christie’s Antiquities department. She holds a BA in Classical Archaeology from Dartmouth College.
Prior to joining the Private and Iconic team, Nathalie worked in the Christie’s Antiquities department. She holds a BA in Classical Archaeology from Dartmouth College.
Amelia Walker
Director, Specialist Head of Private & Iconic Collections | Private & Iconic Collections
Amelia Walker is a Director of Christie’s and Specialist Head of the Private & Iconic Collections department, with over 18 years of experience in the organisation and sale of multi-category private, iconic and country house collections. Since joining in 2006, Christie's has sold countless Iconic, Royal, Aristocratic and Connoisseur collections including those of Mark Knopfler, The Princess Margaret, the Earl Spencer, Sting, Audrey Hepburn, Margaret Thatcher, Roger Federer, Charlie Watts, the Rothschild family, and many more. Amelia is interested in all aspects of collecting, both ‘fine’ and decorative art, from antiquity to the contemporary and has had privileged access to some of the world's most wonderful works of art. She loves nothing more than meeting collectors, researching and valuing their collections and unearthing the provenance and story behind each object, picture, or piece of memorabilia.
Peter Klarnet
Senior Specialist, Americana | Books & Manuscripts
Peter joined Christies in 2016 after twenty years working with manuscript Americana, spending the first portion of his career cataloging for, and later managing, a Connecticut auction house specializing in historical autographs. In 2005 he left that firm to pursue opportunities as a consultant, agent and dealer. Although his primary interests center on early America, especially the American Revolution and Early Republic, Peter has appraised, cataloged and sold a wide range of material from the 17th to the 20th centuries.
Since joining Christie's, Peter has worked with many important collections including the papers of the Marquis de Chastellux, The Private Collection of President and Mrs. Reagan, The Findlay-Wright Papers, the Roger Judd Collection of American Historical Autographs, the Louisiana Purchase Collection of A. J. Tullock, The Collection of Lee Bouvier Radziwill, The Private Collection of William S. Reese, The Birth of Wikipedia, The Papers of Richard N. Goodwin, and most recently, DJ Kool Herc and the Birth of Hip Hop and The Collection of André Leon Talley. Some of Peter’s more prominent auction records include the sale of the Albert Einstein God Letter, bringing $2.89 million—a world record for an Einstein letter at auction; the unique Ionic Original disc of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” (£1.48m); and most recently the Arizona Spike: one of four presentation spikes presented at the ceremony marking the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 ($2.22m). Peter holds a B.A. in History from Antioch College, and a M.A. in History from the University of Delaware with a certificate in museum studies. He has curated several exhibits including a major exhibition at Federal Hall in New York celebrating the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln in 2009.
Since joining Christie's, Peter has worked with many important collections including the papers of the Marquis de Chastellux, The Private Collection of President and Mrs. Reagan, The Findlay-Wright Papers, the Roger Judd Collection of American Historical Autographs, the Louisiana Purchase Collection of A. J. Tullock, The Collection of Lee Bouvier Radziwill, The Private Collection of William S. Reese, The Birth of Wikipedia, The Papers of Richard N. Goodwin, and most recently, DJ Kool Herc and the Birth of Hip Hop and The Collection of André Leon Talley. Some of Peter’s more prominent auction records include the sale of the Albert Einstein God Letter, bringing $2.89 million—a world record for an Einstein letter at auction; the unique Ionic Original disc of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” (£1.48m); and most recently the Arizona Spike: one of four presentation spikes presented at the ceremony marking the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 ($2.22m). Peter holds a B.A. in History from Antioch College, and a M.A. in History from the University of Delaware with a certificate in museum studies. He has curated several exhibits including a major exhibition at Federal Hall in New York celebrating the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln in 2009.
拍卖中心及办事处
地址
20 Rockefeller Center