For Sale: Robert Johnson's Gibson L1?

The asking price for the Gibson L1 guitar that the seller claims was owned by blues icon Robert Johnson is $6 million dollars (USD). The instrument is offered by memorabilia dealer, Moments in Time Manuscripts, Inc., who through a related website presents a number of pages explaining the instrument's provenance, which is based on comparisons between the guitar for sale and the well known 1935 Hooks Brothers studio portrait of Johnson. A quick examination of the instrument in the portrait and the guitar for sale seems to indicate a decided difference in body wear, the guitar for sale appearing much cleaner and lacking the signs of wear apparent in the portrait photo. The sale site explains this discrepancy as being the result of the lighting, reflection and shadow of the 1935 photograph and the Mirror.co.uk reports that, "Experts who studied both the Johnson picture and the guitar confirm they are identical," based on construction quirks appearing on the studio portrait and the guitar for sale.