Star Wars, 1977/The Empire Strikes Back, 1980

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THE JOHN MOLLO COLLECTION John Mollo, a highly respected award-winning costume designer, is probably best known for his iconic designs for the Star Wars trilogy. Born in London, Mollo grew up with a passionate interest in the history and design of military uniforms. Initially as a well-regarded expert on military costume, having written and illustrated numerous books on the subject, Mollo's career in the film industry began as an historical advisor on The Charge Of The Light Brigade (1967), Nicholas And Alexandra (1971), and Barry Lyndon (1975). By the mid-1970s, Mollo had forged a reputation as a talented costume designer and as such, was enlisted by George Lucas to work on one of the greatest Sci-Fi adventures ever filmed, Star Wars. He was responsible for designing the costumes for some of the best-loved characters from this genre including Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the sinister Darth Vader, and for developing George Lucas' concepts of the characters. These inventive designs brought Mollo an Academy Award as well as a BAFTA nomination. After Star Wars, Mollo worked on the costume designs for Alien (1979), The Empire Strikes Back, (1980), Outland (1980) and Ghandi, (1982), his work on the latter bringing a second Academy Award shared with Bhanu Athaiya. This collection is a fascinating record of the time, and a tribute to one of the leading costume designers in the film industry today.

Details

Star Wars, 1977/The Empire Strikes Back, 1980
A collection of promotional material and cast and crew souvenirs, comprising:
- three promotional perspex paperweights in the shape of a five-point star, two with the base engraved Star Wars, one with the base engraved May The Force Be With You, with Two's Company manufacturer's label, in original perspex box, all -- 5½x5½in. (14x14cm.), accompanied by seven lengths of 35mm film from the cutting room floor, which, according to Mollo, were used to gift-wrap the paperweights, longest -- 24½in. (62.2cm.) long;
- a t-shirt of yellow cotton printed with the triangular Star Wars logo, art by Ralph McQuarrie;
- 29 square cardboard coasters for The Empire Strikes Back; and a similar circular coaster;
- two cast and crew cloth badges embroidered with the Vader in flames image, three circular Star Wars Rebel Forces cloth badges, a rectangular The Empire Strikes Back cloth badge, a rectangular Star Wars cloth badge and a metal pin badge printed in blue SW;
- two baseball caps, one of sand cotton with Star Wars Rebel Forces circular cloth badge, the other of navy blue cotton with The Empire Strikes Back rectangular cloth badge;
- three pages of The Empire Strikes Back, EMI Elstree Studios... headed stationery, with five corresponding envelopes; and a card decorated with a triangular The Star Wars sticker, inscribed inside in black ink May The Force Be With You - Always - With Thanks George [Lucas] and Gary [Kurtz] (a lot)

Provenance

The John Mollo Collection.

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

Lot Essay

John Mollo recalls that the perspex stars in this lot were given to guests at a reception for Academy Award nominees before the award ceremony on 3rd April, 1978.

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