John Lennon's Black Velvet Jacket As Seen In 1971 Film ‘Imagine’ Goes Up For Auction In Liverpool

THE BALTIC TRIANGLE, CITY OF LIVERPOOL, LIVERPOOL CITY REGION.

Black Velvet Suit Jacket Once Owned By John Lennon, Is Up For Auction In Adam Partridge’s Liverpool Baltic Triangle Saleroom, With An Estimated Value Of £500,000-£700,000

John Lennon's Black Velvet Suit Jacket as seen in The Beatles Story in Liverpool City Centre (Credit: Supplied/Image was provided to The Liverpudlian with permission to share, courtesy of the Publicist on behalf of their client. We make no claim to this content).

A black velvet suit jacket once owned by the iconic British music artist, writer, performer, and a member of The Beatles, John Lennon, is to go up for auction in Liverpool City Centre on the 5th of December.

The stylish medium sized men’s fashion jacket, was a favourite of John Lennon's. He can be seen wearing it in the 1971 film ‘Imagine’.

John Lennon wore it throughout the early 1970s, at various social occasions as well as in the film. In the early 1970s, when John was under threat of deportation from the United States of America, it was left to his friends back in Great Britain to fulfil his shopping requests. His friend and music producer, Tony King, bought the jacket from Take 6, in London, although it didn’t quite meet John’s “high standards”, according to King.

It was his friendship with Harry Nilsson that led to John gifting the jacket to Harry’s wife, Una. She had taken a real shine to it, and while they were all staying at the Pierre Hotel in 1974, John handed her the jacket, which still retains the star lapel badge - a souvenir from the Beatles Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band, album, released in 1967, at the height of Beatle-mania.

The jacket was in turn gifted to a business colleague of Harry Nilsson in 1992, where it was displayed alongside John's famous army jacket in the Hard Rock Café.

In 2000, the jacket was offered at auction during the Annual Beatles Convention to celebrate the opening of Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. The current owner purchased it at this event, and it has been on display at the Beatles Story in Liverpool for over 20 years.

Auctioneer, Adam Partridge, seen standing next to John Lennon's Black Velvet Suit Jacket as seen in The Beatles Story in Liverpool City Centre (Credit: Supplied/Image was provided to The Liverpudlian with permission to share, courtesy of the Publicist on behalf of their client. We make no claim to this content).

Adam Partridge, who will be auctioning the exceptional item, said: “This truly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to offer an item owned and made famous by one of the most important figures of the 20th century. Having had an auction house in Liverpool for 15 years, it is an honour to be selling such an iconic piece in the City that created the ‘band that changed the world,’ and there is no more fitting place than Liverpool to see the jacket come to market. It carries an auction estimate of £500,000-£700,000.”

He added: "The owner of the jacket will be donating proceeds to the Lennon Imagine Trust, as well as to support new musical initiatives in schools in Liverpool. The funds from the sale will be used by the Trust to continue John's legacy in Liverpool by supporting the trusts 'Music Education Experience' for the children of Liverpool's schools and charity groups by introducing them to 'repurposed musical instruments through a play setting' in the hope to inspire the next John Lennon or The Beatles.”

Adam, said: “In the last 25 years, through further research and personal recollections by those closest to John, the 'history' of the jacket has been completed.”

He added: “A special thanks goes to The Beatles Story Liverpool for their professionalism in caring for the jacket for the last 20 years. The jacket has been on display at the award-winning attraction for this period and seen by over 5 million visitors. Through their invaluable introductions to the photographers Bob Gruen and Robert Deutsch with their famous images of John's life during this period, which we have now been personally granted permission to use.”

Auctioneer, Adam Partridge, seen standing next to John Lennon's Black Velvet Suit Jacket as seen in The Beatles Story in Liverpool City Centre (Credit: Supplied/Image was provided to The Liverpudlian with permission to share, courtesy of the Publicist on behalf of their client. We make no claim to this content).

The auction will be held on Thursday the 5th of December, at Adam Partridge’s Liverpool Saleroom on Jordan Street in The Baltic Triangle neighbourhood of Liverpool City Centre, with the jacket being offered for sale at 2pm. The jacket will remain at the Beatles Story until the auction.