In an upcoming auction at Cheffins Auctioneers in Cambridge a range of Syd Barrett items are going on sale. One of the items - a 12-string Yamaha acoustic guitar - is being sold with all proceeds being split between Mind, the mental health charity, and the Arthur Rank Hospice. It's being sold by his nephew Mark Barrett.

Mark said the guitar was stored with his father, Alan Barrett (Syd’s brother) after the Hills Road house was sold in 1974 but Syd "never collected the guitar". Alan continued to store it over three subsequent house moves, eventually offering it to Mark after Syd's death. Mark told the Cambridge News that "I finally collected it from my father's house in November of 2020, shortly before he died. Unfortunately, I never got to know my uncle Roger, though I would have loved to, but he was a recluse in his later years." The guitar has a serial number of 1090448 with a date code for October 21st 1969. There's a (surely extremely low) selling estimate of £5,000-10,000 for this instrument.

There are five other, quite diverse items for sale in the auction. There's a mono copy of Piper given to Viv 'Twig' Brans, Barrett's girlfriend in the mid-1960s (estimate £300-500); a pair of wall-mounted spotlights from Barrett's basement studio in Hills Road (estimate £100-200); a garden table and two folding chairs (estimate £200-400); a programme for a school production which included Barrett as 'Tom Twist' along with a school photo from May 1959 featuring Barrett, Roger Waters and Storm Thorgerson.

The last of the six items is believed to be the final artwork created by Barrett before his death in July 2006. The watercolour and pencil drawing - Still Life With Lemons And Green Bottles - is initialled and dated "RB Jan '06", and measures approximately 30cm x 42cm. It was found at his home in St Margaret’s Square, Cambridge, where he lived for the last three decades of his life. Initially sold during the auction of the contents of his home in 2006, it is now being sold by a private collector. It has a pre-sale estimate of £4,000 - 6,000, again a figure we suspect is extremely low and expect it to sell for much more than this.

There's also another item that might be of interest - a pair of Jokers Wild business cards, one with David Gilmour's name and old phone number on it. These have an estimate of £100-200, and can be seen here.

The auction will take place on Thursday October 28th at 10am. For more details visit Cheffins.co.uk. Our thanks to all those who contacted us about this sale!