Lot 32
32
The Ten Commandments, 1956/Vincent Price/Edward G. Robinson
The Ten Commandments, 1956/Vincent Price/Edward G. Robinson
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These lots have been imported from outside the EU … Read more
The Ten Commandments, 1956/Vincent Price/Edward G. Robinson

Details
The Ten Commandments, 1956/Vincent Price/Edward G. Robinson
An elaborate gilt metal collar necklace with hieroglyph pendants, the collar plate with two rows of blue and red wooden beads, terminating at each end with a blue falcon motif, the leather lining inscribed in black ballpoint pen Baka #2 Vincent Price The 10 Commandments and in another hand in black ink Property of Grenade Curran, worn by Vincent Price as Baka the master builder and by Edward G. Robinson as Dathan the Hebrew overseer in the 1956 Paramount film The Ten Commandments, directed by Cecil B. DeMille; accompanied by a document concerning the provenance
Provenance
The Collection of Grenade Curran.
Literature
ORRISON, Katherine, op. cit
Special notice
These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.
Further details
© Moviestore Collection/REX, 1956

Lot Essay

Baka is seen wearing the necklace as he is carried in his sedan chair through the pits, spotting the water girl Lilia and taking her into his possession. After Rameses awards Baka's house and property to Dathan as Governor of Goshen, we see him wearing the necklace at home when blackmailing Lilia to submit to him.

According to costume designer John L. Jensen, a lot of the expensive Egyptian costuming was recycled, citing the example that Edward G. Robinson's Dathan character wears a leopard skin seen earlier on Yul Brynner's Rameses II. In the same way that when Moses falls from power, Rameses takes everything, including his armour, Dathan would likewise inherit Baka's jewellery when he is awarded Baka's property by Rameses as payment for his information that Moses is a Hebrew.

Charlton Heston gifted this necklace to Grenade Curran, who worked with him on a number of productions following The Ten Commandments, including Planet Of The Apes, 1968.

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