Document signed - photo 1
Document signed - photo 2
Document signed - photo 3
Document signed - photo 4

Document signed

Lot 495
29.09.2023 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 1 008
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1029146
Lot 495 | Document signed
Estimate value
£ 1 500 – 2 500
HOLIDAY, Billie (1915-1959).

Part-printed document signed in blue ballpoint pen by Billie Holiday, 12 December 1948, an ‘Associated Musicians of Greater New York Local 802’ employment contract engaging pianist Bobby Tucker as accompanist/musical director for a three-week residency at Billy Berg’s, Los Angeles, 15 December 1948 – 11 January 1949, specifying the wages ‘$150.00 weekly’, working hours ‘10:00 PM – 2:00 AM’, and other terms and conditions of employment.

Bobby Tucker worked with Billie Holiday as her accompanist from the time of their successful engagement at the Down Beat in 1946 until the conclusion of this residency at Billy Berg’s in January 1949. Tucker quit Holiday’s employ following a stabbing incident at the club on New Year’s Eve, involving her lover and personal manager John Levy. Billie and Levy were arrested for opium possession a month later in San Francisco.

One page, printed both sides, 279 x 217 mm, signed by both Holiday and Tucker at lower right, additionally initialled by Holiday verso, the remainder of the document filled out in another hand. Provenance: The Collection of Norman R. Saks.

[With:] three concert programmes: the first for ‘Fred Robbins’ One-Nite Stand: A Midnight Variety Concert starring… [Billie Holiday]’, presented by Ernest Anderson, New York, 1948, the light card bifolia with portraits of Holiday to front and back cover, noting that ‘Miss Holiday’s program will be impromptu’, and listing the accompanying musicians, to include pianist Bobby Tucker, 245 x 159 mm; the second for ‘Holiday on Broadway’ at the Mansfield Theatre, New York, June 1948, starring Billie Holiday with the Bobby Tucker Quintet, 227 x 164 mm; the third for Billie Holiday at Carnegie Hall, New York, 1948, annotated on the penultimate page in an unknown hand with Holiday’s Mansfield Theatre set list, 271 x 213 mm.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
20.09.2023 13:00 – 17:00
21.09.2023 09:00 – 17:00
22.09.2023 09:00 – 17:00
23.09.2023 12:00 – 17:00
24.09.2023 12:00 – 17:00
25.09.2023 09:00 – 17:00
26.09.2023 09:00 – 17:00
27.09.2023 09:00 – 17:00
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

More from Creator

Lady Sings the Blues
Lady Sings the Blues
£1 200
Three rare reel-to-reel master copy studio recordings of Billie Holiday from sessions produced by Norman Granz between April 1952 and August 1955
Three rare reel-to-reel master copy studio recordings of Billie Holiday from sessions produced by Norman Granz between April 1952 and August 1955
£2 000
Two photographs signed
Two photographs signed
£1 600
Reel-to-reel recordings
Reel-to-reel recordings
£100
Concert handbill
Concert handbill
£100
A collection of seventeen 78 rpm singles signed by the artists, 1924-1950, originally acquired by photographer and autograph collector Nat Singerman
A collection of seventeen 78 rpm singles signed by the artists, 1924-1950, originally acquired by photographer and autograph collector Nat Singerman
£6 000
Photo folder signed
Photo folder signed
£1 200
Billie Holiday and Sidney Bechet
Billie Holiday and Sidney Bechet
£1 200

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.