From the Sunset Strip to Abbey Road, Bonhams & Butterfields, the world’s fastest growing auction house, is privileged to announce the record-breaking sale of film legend Charlie Chaplin’s trademark bowler hat and cane from his iconic Tramp costume. “We are a global company with an international vision of customer service and sales,” said Jon Baddeley, Group Head of the Collectibles Department, “the Chaplin hat and cane is a prime example of this – although these items were initially consigned in London, Bonhams draws from corporate resources worldwide to place a lot where the market is strongest, across a nation or around the globe.”
Chaplin’s famous origins of the Tramp persona were concocted almost spontaneously in the communal male dressing room at Keystone Studio, Hollywood. As the legend goes – one rainy afternoon, in early February 1914, Chaplin created an inspiring ensemble of contrasts; he borrowed Fatty Arbuckle’s voluminous trousers, Charles Avery’s tiny jacket, Ford Sterling’s size fourteen shoes which he was obliged to wear on the wrong feet to keep them falling off, a too-small derby belonging to Arbuckle’s father-in-law, and a moustached intended for Mack Swain’s use, which he trimmed to toothbrush size. According to Chaplin’s Hollywood producer and costumier at the time, Ted Tetrick, the hat and cane were originally at the studio costume department and were selected by Chaplin personally. The bowler hat, stamped with manufacturer’s details inside the leather hatband and original studio label stamped The Chaplin Studios Inc. California and ink stamped Charles Chaplin Film Corporation. The cane is 32 inches long and made of bamboo. Charlie Chaplin was without doubt, the most innovative and recognizable comic of the silent screen. The iconic bowler hat and cane sold in Los Angeles for $139,250.
Additional highlights from part one of the Entertainment Memorabilia sale include: a world auction record for a two-headed llama from the original Doctor Dolittle (1967) starring Rex Harrison fetched $4,780, a John Lennon inscribed book Kahlil Gibran brought $9,560, a Walt Disney celluloid from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs sold for $8,365 and a saxophone played by former President Bill Clinton went for $7,768.
With pop culture imagery and star power of iconic magnitude, the two-day auction Summer Entertainment Memorabilia auction at Bonhams & Butterfields continues tomorrow with vintage Hollywood Film Posters including the Louis Leithold Collection. Remaining Los Angeles preview events are by appointment only. The illustrated catalog is available online for review and purchase at www.bonhams.com/us.
For more details visit the Bonhams
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