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A hand-illustrated and painted artwork of the Colonial Marines Smart Gun from James Cameron's Aliens, as drawn and painted by artist John R. Mullaney. This lot comes directly from the renowned cutaways artist and technical illustrator. This unique artwork was commissioned and published by 20th Century Studios and Insight Editions for Alien: The Weyland Yutani Report published in 2015. The artwork is rendered in pencil, watercolour, ink and gouache on 300gsm watercolour paper. Mullaney has signed and dated the artwork.

Showcasing the weapon's innovative steadicam mounting rig, this unique artwork was one of nine artworks the artist created for the franchise. The artwork was set up and created from reference photography of one of the two original screen-used props supplied by Aliens archivist and collector Harry Harris.

The artwork faithfully reproduces the customised lettering "Adios" which was inscribed on the weapon owned by Vasquez - a detail which was removed from the published version. Written by S. D. Perry, the in-universe publication is especially significant for originating the Xeno classification XX121 which has subsequently appeared as lore in both Alien Romulus and Alien Earth.

Due to the nature of studio-licensed publishing protocols, this artwork cannot be reproduced for sale as a print, heightening the rarity of the original art. Of the ten original pieces by Mullaney licensed by 20th Century Studios for this title, nearly half are already in private collections. Dimensions: 37 cm x 57 cm (14.5" x 22.5")

Sold without copyright; see copyright notice in the Terms and Conditions.

Estimate: £2,000 - 4,000 M


John R. Mullaney is an award-winning filmmaker and internationally-published artist specialising in technical and cutaway art for major sci-fi properties. Mullaney has been commissioned to produce studio-approved published artwork for Star Wars, Alien, Firefly/Serenity, Halo, Warhammer, Batman, Doctor Who and Wall-E. He recently held his first-ever exhibition of original artworks in central London with work spanning a 25+ year career. Notable owners of Mullaney's work include Alien: Romulus director Fede Alvarez.


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