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Cleopatra's (Elizabeth Taylor) dress from Joseph L. Mankiewicz's historical epic Cleopatra. The Egyptian queen wore her dress near the end of the film, when she said goodbye to her son, and then in the scene where she held a dying Mark Antony (Richard Burton) in her arms. This lot comes from the archives of the Italian costume company Costumi d'Arte.

At the time of its release, Cleopatra was the most expensive film ever made. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won four, including Best Costume Design. Taylor also set a Guinness World Record for the most costume changes in a film, with 65.

The costume comprises a long-sleeved ivory crepe dress and an orange robe decorated with an embroidered gold-and-silver ibis-and-falcon design. The dress has an interior label in the waist on which "Elisabeth [sic] Taylor" is handwritten in blue ink, and features a zip and hook-and-eye fastenings up the back. Both pieces feature interior labels from Costumi d'Arte Peruzzi. The dress has some light staining and discolouration, most notably on the right sleeve, and there is some plucking to areas of the embroidery.

Additional Provenance: This lot comes from the archives of the famed Italian costume company Costumi d'Arte. The company has been supplying some of the biggest film productions in the world with costumes for over 100 years.

Estimate: £10,000 - 20,000 Ω

View all lots from CLEOPATRA (1963)

View all lots from Costumi d'Arte Collection