Lots From the Lot

Here are a few items from the upcoming three-day auction of Hollywood memorabilia, by auctioneers, Profiles in History, June 10-12.

Lot #805 "Wicked Witch of the West" hat from The Wizard of Oz. (M-G-M, 1939). Worn on screen by Margaret Hamilton. Estimate $100,000 - $150,000

A classic, designed by MGM costume designer Adrian (b. Adrian Adolph Greenburg). Read more here and here about the costume designer/couturier who outfitted some 250 films. This guy definitely needs his own post.


Lot #803 Emerald City Prime Minister jeweled gloves from The Wizard of Oz. (MGM, 1939)

These too, are by costume designer Adrian. I love how “gem”-encrusted these are. I can’t wait to see which designer will be reinterpreting these for some future holiday collection …


Lot #637. Alice in Wonderland “Queen of Hearts,” color character design. (Lou Bunin Studios, 1949) Pencil, pen & ink, and gouache on paper by production designer Bernyce Polifka.

There were two Alice in Wonderlands released in 1951. This was the non-Disney production by Lou Bunin Studios which combined stop-motion puppets and live-action. (More here.) We learn from the New York Times review of the “nightmare…put upon the screen,” that “his puppets are ugly and lifeless”, “the sets are uncomfortably tasteless,” and “the Ansco Color in which the whole thing is amateurishly photographed is so muddy, uneven and washed out that it actually tends to nauseate.”

There is now a recently restored 35mm print of the film, and, of course, a cult following.


Lot #786. Original wooden machine gear from the Charles Chaplin film, Modern Times. (UA, 1936) Wooden machine gear painted red over original silver paint that shows through in numerous areas of the piece. Measures 16 in. in diameter x 2 in. wide.

I love this, but something tells me Pottery Barn or Anthropologie will issue the wooden gear as a “home accessory” at some point--probably having something to do with getting-back-to-basics in the economy. Not quite sure I’ll still want it then.