The Shining: Jack Nicholson’s axe from classic Kubrick film sold for £170,000 at auction

Prop from the iconic scene was among 900 lots sold at the film-themed event

Roisin O'Connor
Tuesday 01 October 2019 16:13 BST
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Documentary footage shows Jack Nicholson preparing to film The Shining’s 'axe scene'

The axe wielded by Jack Nicholson in Stanley Kubrick’s classic horror The Shining has sold for £170,000 at an auction in London.

The prop sold for four times its original estimated selling price at the Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction, which was held at the BFI Imax in Waterloo.

Known as a fire axe, the prop is approximately three feet in length, with a wooden handle and foot-long blade that is an inch thick.

Asides from a few scratches from long days of shooting the infamous door-breaking scene, the axe is reportedly in excellent condition.

The Shining axe was one of 900 lots sold between 30 September and 1 October.

Also up for grabs was the Roman general armour worn by Russell Crowe in Gladiator, Samuel L Jackson’s lightsaber, and a Stormtrooper helmet from the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.

Batman aficionados might have been tempted by the complete Batsuit worn by Michael Keaton in the 1989 film, while British comedy fans could have bid for the Holy hand grenade of Antioch from 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

This year’s auction follows the success of 2018’s event, where Harrison Ford’s signature fedora from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark sold for £393,600.

Additional reporting by Associated Press

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