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Moses' (Charlton Heston) Ten Commandments tablets from Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments. In one of the most famous sequences in cinema history, Moses descended from the mountain with the tablets bearing the Ten Commandments, but upon seeing the debauchery, smashed them on the idol of the Golden Calf.

The creation of the tablets required intensive research to meet DeMille's significant creative demands. The director tasked Paramount Studios scenic artist A.J. Ciraolo with creating a finish that both specifically resembled Mount Sinai's distinctive red granite and historically-accurate Midrashic commandment etchings for the mountaintop and Golden Calf scenes. After production, this set was gifted to a publicist by Paramount executive Bernard Serlin, who kept them in his studio office and who it is believed drilled holes on one of them for mounting.

These two lightweight fiberglass tablets were hand-painted with slightly different red and black-speckled patinas, engraved with ancient Hebraic text, and intentionally molded with slight irregularities to further resemble chiseled stone. Also included is one Moses and Egypt book; an LP soundtrack with two LP vinyl records, a clipped newspaper article; one Ten Commandments tear sheet; and six Ten Commandments pamphlets in various languages.

One tablet exhibits drill holes along the top and bottom edges on the reverse, while the other exhibits adhesive residue on its reverse from previous mounting. Both exhibit chipping to the fiberglass. Dimensions: (each) 24" x 12" x 1.25" (61 cm x 30.5 cm x 6.75 cm)

Estimate: $40,000 - 80,000



View all lots from TEN COMMANDMENTS, THE (1956)