George Harrison's leather jacket to auction for $190,500 at Bonhams

The leather jacket was worn by George Harrison during the Beatles' formative years

A leather jacket worn by Beatle George Harrison during the Cavern Club years will highlight important items of his clothing in Bonhams' Entertainment Memorabilia sale on December 12.

George Harrison was the pioneer of the Beatles' signature style

Bonhams has cited the jacket as "one of the most important items of Beatles clothing ever to come onto the market". It was worn when all four Beatles were sporting the "leather look", before Brian Epstein, the band's manager, urged them to start wearing matching suits.

Harrison first acquired the jacket during the Beatles' time in Hamburg, Germany and can be seen in most of the early publicity photographs taken by Astrid Kirchherr and Jurgen Vollmer. It is inscribed "GEO" in green ink and will be accompanied in the sale by a limited edition copy of George Harrison - Living in the Material World.

The jacket also comes with fantastic provenance, having been passed down through Harrison's family since being gifted to his brother Harry in 1964. Harry then passed it to his son Paul, who is said to have worn the jacket to school throughout the 1970s, undoubtedly glowing with pride at his uncle's worldwide fame.

"This leather jacket is instantly recognisable and was an important part of the Beatles image in their early years. George Harrison was one of the pioneers of this signature style, taking inspiration from his peers in Hamburg at the start of the 1960s," commented Stephanie Connell, director of entertainment memorabilia at Bonhams.

A magnificent piece of Beatles memorabilia, it will sell with a £90,000-120,000 estimate. Also featuring in the sale are a pair of Harrison's boots, which are expected to bring £12,000-15,000, and a shirt that George wore during his Concert for Bangladesh in 1971, which is estimated at £6,000-8,000.

George can be seen wearing identical boots to those offered at Bonhams during the production of 1964's A Hard Day's Night.

Our current auction features a microphone used by the Beatles at the Cavern during their leather period.

Paul Fraser Collectibles is currently offering a signed LP cover of the album, which is one of just 8-10 known to exist.

View our full Beatles collection

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Images: Bonhams