Bidding for this lot will end on Wednesday, March 26th. The auction will begin at 10:30AM PDT and lots are sold sequentially via live auctioneer; tune in to the live streaming broadcast on auction day to follow the pace. Note other lots in the auction may close on Thursday, March 27th or Friday, March 28th.
A Jewish Barber's (Charlie Chaplin) screen- and photo-matched "Little Tramp" boots from Chaplin's classic, The Great Dictator. A Jewish Barber wore his increasingly damaged boots - an extension of the legendary comedian's beloved "Little Tramp" character - after returning from the Western Front to his barbershop in the Tomainian ghetto.
During his long and varied career, Chaplin received three Academy Awards®, four further nominations, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Six of his films have since been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. The mischievous "Little Tramp" was Chaplin's most iconic character, featuring in dozens of short and feature films between 1914 and 1936.
With his signature disheveled bowler hat, cane, overcoat, baggy pants, and oversized shoes, the mustachioed Little Tramp character was typically portrayed as a downtrodden vagrant who consistently endeavored to better himself in life and love, but often found himself the victim of cruel circumstance. Chaplin once said of the character's widely recognized costume: "I wanted to create a satire on man. The cane stood for man's attempt at dignity, the moustache for his vanity, and the boots for the cares that hamper him." He based the character's movements on a local character, "..an old cabman in Kennington Rd, with bad feet, who wore boots of abnormal size, and slithered along the road in a painful but ludicrous fashion."
While it is possible that these shoes were utilized on multiple Chaplin Studios productions, distinctive cracking in the sole of the right shoe, as well as creasing to its leather, screen-match to medium and close-up shots of the Barber throughout The Great Dictator, while distress points on the left shoe also photo-match to stills from the production. The boots are therefore believed to be the only screen-matched Chaplin costume pieces - and among the very earliest screen-matched materials in cinema history writ large - ever to come to market.
Furthermore, the shoes feature details distinctive to those worn by Chaplin in the film, including slight lifted heels, leather tops, and white paint spatter, most visibly around the right shoe's eyelets, believed to be residue from the chase scene in which the Barber spilled white paint on a Tomainian soldier, though this detail cannot be confirmed to screen-match.
The boots were originally preserved by Alfred Reeves, the General Manager of the Chaplin Film Corporation, between 1918 and 1946. Eventually, they found their way into the collection of Ted Tetrick - who worked with Chaplin Studios from 1938 onward as part of the costume and production design departments - and his wife, Betty Tetrick, who was Chaplin's cousin. On December 11, 1987, a decade after Chaplin's death, the Tetricks put their collection of items from Chaplin Studios, including these boots, into Christie's "Charlie Chaplin Sale," a multi-consignor auction featuring merchandise, photos, and other memorabilia from the legendary filmmaker. The highlights of the sale were the Tetricks' lots, including these boots (the only pair of boots in the auction) along with a Little Tramp bowler hat and cane.
The boots originate directly from the winner of the 1987 sale. Per the Christie's description, they originally came with a Letter of Authenticity from Ted, which has since been lost. Still, the boots today match exactly to the original illustration of them featured in the 1987 catalog. As Tetrick wrote: "Originally, Chaplin selected three pairs of shoes for his Tramp character in the early teens. One of these pairs was dismissed because it was eaten by mice. Another pair was custom-made and were not comfortable and were too new and finally were lost over the years [..] [These are] the ONLY pair that Chaplin selected himself and used in most of his films."
These worn, cotton-lined, leather-laced-and-soled working boots are intentionally distressed in keeping with the character's disheveled appearance. The right heel features a drilled hole - approximately one inch in diameter - on its underside which allowed Chaplin to anchor to the floor during certain stunts. These boots, which are over a century old, are heavily worn both inside and out, with extensive wear to their interiors and soles, and their layers coming apart due to regular use over a long period of time. They remain fragile and should be handled with caution.
Additional Provenance: An original debossed white Chaplin Studios tag, which at one time bore a sticker featuring Chaplin's signature. 1987 Christie's "Charlie Chaplin Sale" auction catalog; Christie's compliments slip; two Christie's tags; printed copies of Los Angeles Times and United Press International articles covering the auction; and three printed black-and-white stills of the Little Tramp. Following the 1987 auction, the signature came loose from the tag and is no longer present, though it is visible in the original catalog photo.
Estimate: $125,000 - 250,000