DALLAS — An iconic prop on the middle of the plot twist of one of the vital common motion pictures of all time led Heritage Auctions’ Hollywood & Entertainment Signature Auction on December 17, when it offered to an present consumer and personal collector for $495,000, from a gap bid of $400,000. One of a number of variations made for The Wizard of Oz (MGM, 1939), the instance was the one utilized by Margaret Hamilton in her villainous portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West to point out Dorothy how little time she has left to stay. Just a few film minutes later, Dorothy’s rescuers: the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow had arrived on the fortress the place Dorothy had been imprisoned and, of their try to get away, Dorothy had melted the witch with water meant to douse the burning Scarecrow.

MGM recycled the Gothic-style wooden and papier mache hourglass in different productions, notably Babes on Broadway (1941), Diane (1956), and 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964). It was additionally included in three museum exhibitions: Los Angeles Public Library’s Getty Gallery (2000); Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine (2014), and Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa (2016).

It was the highest lot in a sale that achieved $7,924,188; a extra in depth sale recap will seem in a future subject.