Classic Queen cover art for A Day at the Races sells for £28k

Before the auction, Mr Hobbs had expected the lot to sell for more than £10,000 but said "these things are impossible to value"

A piece of artwork from the cover of a classic Queen album has been sold at auction for more than £28,000.

The piece, designed by David Costa, and from the 1976 album A Day at the Races, was sold by Gardiner Houlgate in Corsham on Wednesday.

Auctioneer Luke Hobbs said the piece was "probably, for me personally, the most exciting piece I've ever had in, just because of the connection with the band and what it is".

An American buyer purchased the piece.

Describing the quality of the work guitar specialist Mr Hobbs said: "Our art expert here had a look at it and said it's one of the finest 20th Century art pieces he's ever looked at."

The piece was by David Costa who was the art director for both A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races.

In 2021, the original artwork for another Queen album, 1977's News Of The World sold in New York for $62,575 (£46,000).

The artwork design came from an original sketch by Freddie Mercury

Mr Hobbs said when he was researching the lot "[David] gave it to me initially thinking it was A Night at the Opera [and] I turned round and said 'it's not, it's A Day at the Races'.

He said when he asked if he still had the opera artwork, Mr Costa said: "'Oh no, well I've got no idea where it is, I think A Night at the Opera may have have become a night in the dustbin' and that was his exact quote to me."

Mr Hobbs said the piece is valuable because of the quality and "there's only one of them".

He added: "It's not just a Queen cover, it's a piece of art that was used and became one of [the bands] most iconic albums really," he added.

A Day At The Races was released in 1976 and went platinum, reaching number one in the UK album chart as well as in Japan and the Netherlands. It contained the hit singles Somebody To Love and Tie Your Mother Down.