Citizen Kane's iconic Rosebud sled sells at auction for more than $22 million
The once-thought-to-be-lost sled from Orson Welles's 1941 film was sold at a Texas auction on Thursday for $US 14,750,000 ($22.8 million) — becoming the second most-valuable piece of movie memorabilia ever sold.
The sled is one of only three known to survive and was miraculously saved from disposal by director Joe Dante in 1984 while filming on a Paramount set that was once a RKO lot.
The Gremlins director recognised the sled's importance, and preserved it for decades, even planting it as an Easter egg in four of his own films, including Gremlins 2: The New Batch.
Scientific testing confirmed the sled's period authenticity, and like the others, the sled bore the signs of production use, including original paint, wear, Heritage Auctions said in a statement.
"I've had the honor of protecting this piece of cinematic history for decades," Dante said.
"To see Rosebud find a new home — and make history in the process — is both surreal and deeply gratifying.
Only a few versions of the sled were produced for the 1941 production — with one being sold to producer-director Steven Spielberg in 1982, and an anonymous buyer in 1996.
Thursday's buyer is unknown.
Citizen Kane is frequently cited as the greatest film ever made, and the sled symbolises the film's theme of innocence lost.
In 2024, the sale of Dorothy's ruby red slippers from Wizard of Oz made history when they sold for $US 32.5 million ($50.3 million) at auction.
This week's auction also boasted a slew of other infamous film props including the inscribed tablets from Cecil B DeMille's epic The Ten Commandments, Indiana Jones's bull whip from The Last Crusade and Luke Skywalker's Red Five X-wing from The Empire Strikes Back.
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