Jersey auctioneer opens bidding on rockstar's 'blood portrait'

Thursday 23 July 2020

A picture of supermodel Kate Moss painted in crayon and blood by her ex-rockstar boyfriend Pete Doherty at the height of their romance has been put up for sale by a Jersey auctioneer.

Painted in around 2007 when the Libertines singer and catwalk star were dating, the framed work is expected to generate around £7,000 at auction.

However, Doherty’s ‘blood paintings’ are highly sought-after, with a previous one made alongside Amy Winehouse selling for £35,000 in 2012.

The unusual work is one of a number of whacky items being offered by local broker ‘Just Collecting’ in an online auction on Invaluable.com that opened this week. 

Pictured: Doherty's 50x60cm blood painting is a self-portrait featuring then-girlfriend Kate Moss reclining on a sofa.

It also includes pieces of clothing - such as an early Michael Schumacher race-worn Benetton-Ford F1 racing team suit, Madonna’s hat, Lady Gaga’s mask, Marc Bolan’s coat and a shirt worn by Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips – and film props from ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope’. 

Also featured are a number of autographed letters and images from famous names from the worlds of academia, politics, literature, music and sport, ranging from Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Leon Trotsky and Lord Nelson to Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, The Beatles and Muhammad Ali.

Pictured: Michael Schumacher's race-worn overalls, which are expected to fetch up to £5,000.

However, Just Collecting auctioneer Dan Wade told Express his favourite items in the collection are two very early Sooty puppets from the original TV programmes, which are expected to reach up to £2,000.

Mr Wade said that the more frayed of the two Sootys dates back to the 1950s, with the “tell-tale sign” the sawdust inside his head.

Pictured: The two special Sootys.

Explaining why the puppets are so special, he added: “Putting your hand inside Sooty is like having an out of body experience.

“To think that these are two of the earliest original Sootys - a puppet who has delighted generations, whose name is part of British folklore, and that you’re following in the footsteps of Sooty’s creator, Harry Corbett - it makes your head swim."