The kitchen table formerly owned by late Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis has been put up for sale on Ebay for the second time after the seller originally listed the same item in 2013.
Bidding closed at £8,400 two years ago but, presumably, the highest bidder never went through with the purchase. The new listing begins: “BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND”.
The table is taken from the room where Curtis took his life in 1980. The seller, Tel Harrop, claims to have only been aware that he owned such a prized item when watching Curtis biopic film Control.
Harrop hopes to fund his band, Always The Way, with money made from the sale. He previously told NME: “When I put the listing on I could have said a lot of things but I didn’t want to, you know. I would have bought the table if it had been his lounge table – I just bought it because it was an unusual item. Everyone’s got the records – I‘ve got the table. This band has been my life for years.”
Bidding is currently at £112 for the table after two bids. See the listing here.
Joy Division’s surviving members condemned the sale at the time, writing in a statement to NME: “Joy Division original members Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris would like to lend their voice of support to Deborah and Natalie Curtis, who have been caused great distress over media reporting of the sale of the table originally owned by the family, and currently being auctioned on eBay.”
The statement continued: “Deborah and Natalie would like to point out that the sale of this table has nothing whatsoever to do with them. The table was sold along with the house in 1980 and Natalie has never signed any authentication document. Furthermore, they consider the sale of a personal family item, and the subsequent media reporting, to be distasteful and upsetting.”
Press
Meanwhile, Ian Curtis’ former home is set to be turned into a Joy Division museum after being bought for £190,000 earlier this year.
In February of this year it was reported that campaigners were seeking to raise £115,000 for the two-bedroom property at 77 Barton Street, Macclesfield, after it was put on the market.
Hadar Goldman, an entrepreneur and classically trained musician, purchased the property at its asking price of £115,000, plus £75,000 in compensation and legal fees.
“Although I paid £190,000 – nearly double the asking price – I felt as if I had to get involved,” he said, “especially after hearing the plight of the fans who had failed to raise the necessary funds to buy the house owned and lived in by one of the musical heroes of my youth. Joy Division left a musical legacy which has influenced many of today’s bands.”
Speaking about his purchase of the property in an interview with The Guardian, Goldman said, “It was, I imagine, for my personal ego. Some people would pay for a Rembrandt painting; for me, Joy Division is the modern Rembrandt.”
Goldman also discussed the transformation of the house into a museum, saying that it has a “raw energy”. He revealed that, as well as being a Joy Division museum, it will be a “digital hub” which will support artists all over the world.