From Kubrick’s neon to charity chandeliers, Carrie Sanders finds two London auctions this November that have nothing to do with the usual suspects…
Sotheby’s and Christie’s can keep the headlines. The auctions I’d actually like to be at this November are two less grand affairs: one selling neon signs from Stanley Kubrick’s last film, the other raising money for grassroots sport by selling some very nice furniture. Both are the sort of sale where what a thing is matters less than where it’s been.
The neon first. On Thursday 19th November, Lots Road Auctions in Fulham is selling a collection of original film-set signs by the late Chris Bracey, in a sale called The Director’s Cut: Film, Music & Hollywood Icons. Bracey, known as the Neon Man and the founder of God’s Own Junkyard, came from a family of sign-makers. He followed his father Dick into the trade, filled Soho with pink, blue and green neon, and before long Hollywood came calling. His signs turned up in Batman, Beetlejuice, Mission: Impossible, Casino Royale and The Dark Knight.
The prize pieces come from Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut. When he rebuilt Greenwich Village at Pinewood Studios, Bracey and his sons Marcus and Matthew supplied the glow: signs, coloured lights and shadowy shopfronts for the street Tom Cruise’s character drifts through in the film’s increasingly dreamlike narrative. Some of the originals are now up for grabs, including the Rainbow Fancy Dress sign, plus Dogs and Saxophone. I’d happily have the Saxophone over the sofa, though my other half might have views.
Elsewhere there’s the STARK sign from Captain America (the lot with the handsomest estimate at £30,000), Green Dragon from Fast & Furious, and signs linked to Ready Player One, Judge Dredd and The Gentlemen. There’s also The Rocking Machine (The New Generation), several framed photographs from Hollywood’s golden era, and a certain sculpture by the Herman Makkink Estate made famous by A Clockwork Orange – a conversation-starter, to put it mildly. If you’d rather see Bracey’s work than bid on it, the family still runs God’s Own Junkyard in Walthamstow, one of the most brilliantly chaotic rooms in London.
For anyone whose taste runs more to upholstery than Hollywood, there’s The Spring Clean, an online charity auction that opens on 3rd November. It’s organised by the interior design studio Carden Cunietti, founded by Audrey Carden and Eleanora Cunietti, who have persuaded a long list of makers and suppliers to donate furniture, lighting, rugs and objects in aid of the London Playing Fields Foundation, the charity that looks after the capital’s grassroots sporting spaces.
Highlights include a sculptural Brenta chandelier listed at £5,799, a Ponte rug at £6,420, a Marea pendant light at £5,436 and a pair of X Frame stools at £5,800, with other pieces from Cox London, Ocre, Holly Hunt, Novocastrian, Davidson London, Ryan Smith and VanDerHerd. There’s also a bespoke Julian Chichester console table, a DeMuro Das Corbu ottoman and a pair of Brabbu Earth armchairs. Handy, if you’ve been meaning to redecorate before winter.
The charity has a better football story than most. Founded in 1890, the London Playing Fields Foundation runs seven grounds across the capital, among them the Peter May Sports Centre in Walthamstow, where a young Harry Kane played for Ridgeway Rovers under the coaching of Alex Welsh, now the charity’s chief executive. Last year it teamed up with Oasis on 7 Shows, 7 Fields, a salute to the coaches, volunteers and community champions behind grassroots sport, timed to the band’s seven Wembley concerts.
With green space and sports pitches under growing pressure in London, there are worse excuses for buying a chandelier. And if the neon wins you over instead, you’ll at least have a story for the dinner guests, which, to my mind, is the whole point of an auction.
The Spring Clean 2026 online charity auction runs from 3rd–17th November 2026. In aid of the London Playing Fields Foundation. For more information, please visit www.thespringclean.co.uk
The Director’s Cut: Film, Music & Hollywood Icons is on at Lots Road Auctions, The Piper Building, Fulham, London, on Thursday 19 November 2026 at 3pm. Viewing daily, 10am–5pm. For more information, please visit www.lotsroad.com.
