Auctions

THE vendor of an 18 x 6in wooden fragment of a Stratocaster guitar smashed by Jimi Hendrix in a climactic stage melee at the Albert Hall in 1969, was caught on film as he sprinted past the camera with it stuffed under his jacket. Sotheby's has estimated it at pounds 8,000- pounds 10,000 in its sale of rock and film memorabilia and animation art, Wednesday and Thursday (10.30am daily). The neck of the same guitar made pounds 1,485 at Sotheby's in 1987. Where is the rest of it?

The painted drumskin that appears on the sleeve of the Beatles' 1967 album, Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, is estimated pounds 25,000- pounds 35,000. Will limited-edition lithographs of record sleeves acquire value as collectables? EMI launched a series of American editions this year, including Sergeant Pepper. Prints from 10 of the editions of 9,800, signed by graphic and recording artists, are in the sale: pounds 1,000- pounds 1,500 each.

The sale has the front door from the offices of the Beatles' Apple Corps in Savile Row, London, covered with fans' graffiti: pounds 15,000- pounds 18,000. Top lot is John Lennon singing with his skiffle group the Quarry Men in 1957: pounds 100,000- pounds 150,000.

An example of the latest pre-war television estimates: a 1937 HMV model 902 with deco cabinet and radio-gram (only 11 were made) is pounds 1,500- pounds 2,000 at Phillips Bayswater mechanical music sale, Tuesday (12 noon).