Elizabeth Taylor’s Cleopatra cape to be sold at memorabilia auction

PanARMENIAN.Net - The gold cape that Elizabeth Taylor wore as Cleopatra in two pivotal scenes in the 1963 film of the same name is expected to bring $20,000 as the top entertainment lot in Heritage Auctions’ March 30 Entertainment & Music Memorabilia Signature auction, the auctioneer’s official website reported.

The top lot on the music side is expected to be the rarest of all U.S. 45 Beatles singles, a mint condition stock pressing of 1962’s “My Bonnie”/“The Saints,” with the Fab Four as the back-up band, estimated at $30,000+.

“These are just a few of the highlights and legendary names we have lined up in this auction,” said Margaret Barrett, Director of Entertainment & Music auctions at Heritage. “We have rare and desirable memorabilia relating to a host of the key figures in late 20th century Pop Culture. Collectors of all levels will find something to be excited about.”

The Elizabeth Taylor Ceremonial Cape from Cleopatra (20th Century Fox, 1963), crafted to resemble the wings of a Phoenix, is an ornately designed piece made of thin panels of gold-painted leather adorned with hand-stitched gold bugle beads, seed beads and bead-anchored sequins. Taylor wore the cape in two key scenes: Cleopatra's dramatic entrance to Rome – the most lavish portrayal of this event in film history – and Cleopatra's dramatic 'exit' by asp bite. The cape is complimented by a wig Taylor wore in the same film, mainly at the beginning of the film, estimated at $10,000+.

“Taylor was featured in countless newspaper and magazine articles wearing this cape,” said Barrett, “most famously on the cover of the October 6, 1961 issue of Life. While the $194,800 budget for Taylor's costumes was the highest ever for a single actor at the time, the film's costume designer, Irene Sharaff, made good use of it, winning an Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Color, for her work.”

The Beatles (Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers) “My Bonnie”/“The Saints” 45 (Decca 31382, 1962), the top offering of the many Beatles-related lots in the auction, is the rarest of the US Beatles singles, even rarer than the pink label promo version of the same record.