Star Wars, 1977
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more The following four lots are the property of Andrew Ainsworth who set up Shepperton Design Studios in 1974, the company responsible for the production of all the helmets and armour (with the exception of Darth Vader) used in Star Wars, 1977.
Star Wars, 1977

Details
Star Wars, 1977
A prototype prop X-Wing Fighter Pilot's helmet, the unfinished helmet of grey/brown vacu-formed plastic, with ridged top and sides and bolted-on mouthpiece section -- made for the 1977 20th Century Fox/Lucasfilm production Star Wars; accompanied by a black and white photograph of a group of finished helmets -- 8x10in. (20.3x25.4cm.) and a letter concerning the provenance (3)
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis
Further details
Photograph courtesy of Shepperton Design Studios

Lot Essay

Star Wars Costume Designer, John Mollo, asked the vendor to work on the film after discovering that the vendor had the equipment needed to make the specialised vacuform plastic. To this end, with a frenetic deadline, they worked around the clock in their design studio from March - June, 1976 whilst filming was being carried out at Pinewood Studios. At that time, the huge success of Star Wars had not been anticipated and, according to the vendor, the making of the costumes was very much a process of trial and error.

The company's original receipts show that in total they made fifty-six Stormtroopers' helmets, twelve Imperial Forces' helmets, twelve Imperial Fighter Pilots' helmets and twenty X-Wing Fighter Pilots' helmets.

This helmet is a prototype of the X-Wing Fighter Pilots' helmets seen in the sequence where the Rebel Forces prepare to fly off in their X-Wing Star Fighters to attack the Death Star. The final used version of the helmets were painted white with red and blue insignia; they also had chin straps rather than the mouthpiece section of the helmet in this lot. The accompanying photograph shows a group of finished X-Wing Fighters' helmets stacked up outside Shepperton Design Studios.

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