The Beatles: Aphrodite statue from historic gig being auctioned

The statue was behind John Lennon in the band's performance at London's Abbey Road Studios

A classical statue which featured in a groundbreaking performance by The Beatles is going under the hammer.

The 5ft (1.5m) fibreglass Aphrodite was seen by up to 700 million TV viewers worldwide as the group took part in the first live satellite broadcast in 1967.

The Beatles represented the UK as John Lennon wrote All You Need Is Love just days before to reflect the event's Summer of Love and flower power theme.

The Greek goddess of love statue will be auctioned in Liverpool on 28 August.

The statue, which is coated with a cement-like finish to simulate a stone appearance, is estimated to fetch between £15,000 and £20,000.

The Fab Four represented the UK in the Our World gig, the first live global satellite broadcast in 1967

Artists representing 19 countries took part in the Our World gig on 25 June 1967, which was screened in 25 countries.

The Beatles performance at London's Abbey Road Studios was broadcast by the BBC.

The set was dressed with balloons, flowers and streamers draped around various bits of decor as Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Sir Ringo Starr perched on stools.

The Aphrodite statue, believed to have been brought in from a prop shop, was on the set behind Lennon.

Sir Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, Marianne Faithfull and Graham Nash were in the audience.

Sound engineer Geoff Emerick took the prop home

The Aphrodite statue took pride of place in Mr Emerick's garden until he moved to the US

Sound engineer Geoff Emerick, who won two Grammy awards for his work with The Beatles, took the statue home and it took pride of place in his garden in Hornsey, London, for the next 45 years.

It was put into storage when Mr Emerick moved to the United States where he later died in 2018, aged 72.

He had particularly close links with Sir Paul as he was appointed to oversee the building of Apple Studios in Savile Row in 1969 and then won another Grammy for his work on the Wings LP, Band on the Run.

Other prized personal items released by Mr Emerick's estate, including original plan documents for the conversion of Apple Studios, will feature in the sale along with Beatles memorabilia.

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