Cellist Jacqueline du Pre's belongings fetch £52k at auction

A collection of items belonging to the renowned cellist Jaquelin du Pre has sold for just under £52,000 at auction.

The collection featured 137 lots from du Pre's childhood and early career, and went under the hammer at Gardiner Houlgate auctions in Corsham, Wiltshire, on Friday.

Handwritten letters, photographs and sheet music were all sold to buyers from as far away as the US and Europe.

"The upper estimate would have been £35,000 or £40,000, so it's well exceeded the upper estimate," said Jamie South, director at Gardiner Houlgate.

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Standout items from the sale included a photograph of Du Pre playing her first cello as a child, which sold for £1,100, her birth certificate that went for £1,000, and a collection of tunes composed by her mother, which sold for £4,000.

Du Pre's childhood teddy, Sebastian, also sold for £620.

South said the "incredibly personal" nature of the items might have attracted the buyers.

Jaquelin Du Pre performed her first cello concert at the age of seven and went on to become one of the most renowned instrumentalists of the 20th Century before her death in 1987 at the age of 42.

The sale was organised by Du Pre's sister, Hilary Finzi, who previously said many of the items had been "stored in our homes for decades".

South said Finzi "not only attended the auction but made a presentation at the start".

This is the first auction of du Pre's belongings, with a second one planned for December.

"We've tried to arrange it so it's chronological, this was very much about the first part of her career and her childhood," said South.

"The second part of the sale in December will be more about her glittering career and obviously her sad death."

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'Defining' photos of musicians to be auctioned

Cellist Jaquelin du Pre's belongings up for auction