John Lennon’s tooth is up for auction and expected to sell for about £10,000.
A molar belonging to a dead member of the Beatles is probably one of the weirdest souvenirs a fan or collector could hope but, even at 2 cm, and slightly decayed, thanks to a youth spend under the British health care system, it is expected to attract plenty of interest.
Oh, and it has a cavity that would make a dentist rub his hands with glee.
Apparently, John Lennon gave his tooth to his former housekeeper Dot Jarlett at the height of his fame with the Beatles in the mid to late 1960s.
”He was in the kitchen and he had this tooth which he had wrapped in a piece of paper,” Dot’s son Barry said.
”He said: ‘Dot will you dispose of this’ and then he said: ‘Or, as your daughter’s a Beatles fan, you can give it to her as a souvenir’.”
Dot did just that, but now the family has decided they can live without it, and perhaps would be better off with the money.
The auctioneers said Lennon had a warm relationship with his housekeeper Dorothy (Dot) Jarlett while she worked for him at his Kenwood home, in Surrey, between 1964 and 1968.
John Lennon also gave Dot the corduroy jacket he wore in the photo-shoot for the cover of the Rubber Soul album, and he even named his dog Bernard after Dot’s husband.
Lennon’s tooth comes with an affidavit signed by Jarlett who has previously sold other Beatles’ items. ”He was very generous to my mother,” he said.
”He treated her like family, because he didn’t really have a very big family and he really looked after my mum. He used to call her Aunty Dot.” In a masterpiece of understatement, a spokesperson from the auction house handling the sale said:
”This is the most wonderful and weird item that we have ever had for sale.”
Of course the next question is what to do with it. The mind boggles.
Lennon’s tooth will be auction on November 5.
