Some wild accusations have been flying about the provenance of a unique collection of photos up for sale on eBay. The signed photographs of stars from Gary Cooper and Marlene Deitreich to Max Bygraves and Gary Wilmot, came from His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen. Told of the sale by a jounalist, theatre management, who seem not have have seen the pictures for at least a decade, contacted the police.
Seller Northumbrian told TameBay “These pictures were bought from Bonhams Auctions in Edinburgh last week. The original owner was a high level official or director or similar who has total ownership.” The police officer who investigated the Theatre’s complaint was satisfied that no crime had been committed, and gave the seller the all-clear to continue with the sale.
HMT Chief Executive Duncan Hendry told the BBC yesterday that the Theatre was negotiating to get the pictures back. This doesn’t seem to be totally accurate: Northumbrian told us “I was prepared to sell these to the theatre, though they offered me £400 quid for the lot and not even an apology for the time lost or the hassle”. The eBay sales are now expected to run their term, helped, of course, by all the extra publicity.
