It played centre stage in one of the most memorable scenes in movie history. And now, the original axe swung by Jack Nicholson in the 1980 horror flick, The Shining, is up for auction. The prop is part of the largest entertainment memorabilia sale ever staged north of the Border.
Among the gems going under the hammer at McTear’s in Glasgow next month are also Bob Dylan’s stage-used guitar and rare Beatles archive. The axe swung by Jack Nicholson's character Jack Torrance in 1980's The Shining is going under the hammer at McTear's auction house in Glasgow. "Here's Johnny!" Nicholson delivered one of cinema's most celebrated lines after using the axe to smash through a door in the movie, directed by Stanley Kubrick. Shelley Duvall, as Jack's wife Wendy, was in the terrifying scene.
The axe from Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, complete with blood stains, is expected to fetch up to £100,000. Meanwhile, the guitar, personally owned and played by Dylan during his 1984 UK and European tour with Carlos Santana, has an estimate of £30,000 to £60,000.
The collection of film, music, television and pop culture artefacts on offer on June 3 span more than six decades of global entertainment history. The Beatles memorabilia includes reel-to-reel tapes and recording equipment linked to the band’s first visit to the U.S., expected to fetch tens of thousands of pounds.
And the auction will also feature one of the rarest Fab Four vinyl groupings to come on the market, with three consecutively numbered early White Album pressings (007, 008 and 009) available with a top estimate of £80,000. Other lots include original James Bond posters and props, David Bowie design collaborations and Scottish music history connected to Glasgow’s Apollo Theatre.
McTear’s film and pop culture specialist, Sean Bruce Gillies, said: “This is without question one of the most important and wide-ranging entertainment memorabilia sales ever held in Scotland.”
