The axe used by Jack Nicholson in the 1980 horror film The Shining is to be sold as part of the first auction of director Stanley Kubrick's personal archive. The weapon, which Nicholson's character Jack Torrance uses to hack through a locked bathroom door, carries a guide price of between £30,000 and £50,000.
A landmark auction of Kubrick's archive
Held at Bonhams in London on 3 February, the sale features hundreds of items from the archive of Kubrick, who died in 1999. Public exhibitions begin next week in New York before moving to Los Angeles, Paris and then London on 18 January.
Other lots from The Shining include two sky-blue dresses worn by the twin sisters Alexa and Alexie Grady, who appear in a memorable scene inviting Torrance's son Danny to “come play with us”. Danny's tricycle is not included, but a clapperboard from the film is one of four from Kubrick's movies to be offered, alongside examples from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut.
Star child prop leads estimates
The lot expected to fetch the highest price is the model of a cosmic foetus from the final scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey, known as the “star child prop”, which is predicted to sell for as much as £800,000.
Claire Tole-Moir, head of popular culture at Bonhams, said: “It is the final, enigmatic image of one of cinema's most influential science fiction films. It represents evolution, new beginnings, naivety and ambiguity. 2001: A Space Odyssey is not just one of Kubrick's most finest films, it is a cinematic masterpiece, and so to be able to offer this iconic prop from the final scene of the film is incredibly exciting.”
Scripts, a director's chair and a chess set
Tole-Moir's favourite items are Kubrick's film scripts, complete with his personal annotations, drawings and alternative scenes. She said: “His scripts are incredibly special … providing us with an exciting insight into Stanley's creative journey whilst making some of his most famous films such as The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Lolita among others.” The sale also includes his personal script from the 1960 film Spartacus and his director's chair, valued at up to £12,000.
Tole-Moir said: “Few people had as much of an overwhelming impact on visual culture as Kubrick,” noting his work spawned the adjective Kubrickian, meaning marked by “meticulous attention to detail, technical mastery, precision and a distinctive visual or creative style”. She added that the lot best illustrating his personality was his chess set, which he valued for its “combination of strategy, patience, discipline and intellectual precision”, and that he often played with cast and crew during filming breaks.
The auction gives “fans, collectors and historians the chance to own a piece of this remarkable collection”, Tole-Moir said, adding that the exhibitions were “a landmark moment to get closer to some of the most iconic films ever made”. She concluded: “It is hard to think of another collection of this calibre, nor a director who has inspired so many.”
