(Update 11/18/2019: The jacket sold for $3,250 and the sketch for $4,000. The winning bidders have not been identified.)
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A suit jacket, purportedly worn by Orson Welles on the last night of his life, and sketch for his film Chimes at Midnight are both on the auction block this month.
The jacket and sketch are from the estate of Prince Alessandro Tasca di Cutò, a longtime Welles associate, according to Heritage Auctions. He was an executive producer on Chimes at Midnight and dined with Welles on the night he died, October 10, 1985.
The items are part of the Signature auction which runs through November 16-17.
The jacket is lined with black art silk and labelled on the inside pocket “Acuna, Hollywood,” from the noted costumer Frank Acuna. Inside the jacket pocket was a matchbook from Ma Maison, a restaurant where Welles often dined. Both the jacket and matchbook are listed as being in very good condition.
The framed 14-inch by 20-inch Chimes at Midnight sketch — once exhibited at the Royal Palace in Palermo — is listed as the only remaining Chimes of Midnight sketch as all the others were acquired by the University of Michigan Library Special Collections.
In addition to those items, Heritage Auctions is featuring a large canvas prop used in the making of Black Magic, a 1949 film starring Welles. The canvas depicts the life of Count Cagliostro with various painted images. It was created by Oscar-winning designer, Nino Novarese and part of the Tasca di Cutò estate.
Tasca di Cutò’s friendship and professional relationship with Welles spanned several decades.
His papers, including 22 costume sketches for Chimes at Midnight and notes on such projects as Don Quixote, The Other Side of the Wind, Big Brass Ring, The Dreamers, Cradle Will Rock and King Lear. They can be found in the University of Michigan Library Special Collections.
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