DEVON, UK. October 18th, 2024 - A mind-bending collection of laboratory equipment made by the Danish firm of Bruel & Kjaer is up for auction – and at a knock-down price.
The collection will be sold through Vintage Electric Musical Instrument Auctions (VEMIA) and the owner of the equipment, Peter Forrest, runs the auction himself.
Peter said: “I’d seen Bruel & Kjaer gear being used in the Radiophonic Workshop at the BBC, and in Stockhausen’s studio, so I knew it had the potential to produce interesting sounds.
“I admired the stance I believe B&K had for most of the time when they were producing this stuff from the 1950s to 1980s of not making equipment for offensive military purposes. They also chose a seriously beautiful colour for their casework, which they still use today. And to cap it all, the insides of these instruments are hand-made works of art.
“For the last 30 years I’ve been travelling around the country to auctions, BBC sales, universities – anywhere there was some of this wonderful gear for sale. Sometimes I even trusted eBay sellers to ship safely – not easy.”
The wall of laboratory gear is 4m wide by 2m high, and weighs one ton. Uprated for inflation, it would have cost over £500,000 to buy new, with some units costing the same price as a Mini car at the time.
The start price at auction for the collection is £6000 with no reserve. With buyer’s premium and delivery in the UK a single bidder could pay less than £7500.
It now needs to be sold, as Peter is planning to step down from running the auction, so some loved things have to go, to free up storage space.
Peter added: “It is all sold as seen, with no guarantee of working order. But it would make a sensational static display which could then, piece by piece, be renovated and brought back to full functionality.”
Vintage Electric Musical Instrument Auctions runs from November 2nd to 9th at spheremusic.com. The November auction is predicted to sell £500,000 worth of equipment, valued from £15,000 to £100,000.
ENDS
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