Memorabilia from Gilbert’s films archive included 12 lots of scripts, storyboards, photographs and ephemera relating to James Bond epics which he directed: You Only Live Twice (1967), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979).
Totalling more than £37,000, they were led by a lot comprising two director’s scripts for The Spy Who Loved Me along with production paperwork about the famous opening parachute scene. As with most of the Bond lots, it went to a UK private collector above estimate at £6500.
A collaborative work was a 17-page scrapbook compiled by Hylda featuring tickets, press clippings, film stills and photos relating to the Royal Charity Premiere of You Only Live Twice. Estimated at £600-800, the scrapbook contributed £1500 to the 28-lot sale’s £50,000 total.
Daughter of antiques dealers
Offered on the previous day, November 16, were nearly 200 items which had belonged to Hylda, daughter of a family of antiques dealers.
Best-seller was an £11,000 portrait by John Smart from her collection of miniatures (see ATG No 2519) but there was much else from the couple’s London home.
Among them was an Italian micro mosaic inlaid tortoiseshell snuff box.
From the second quarter of the 19th century, the 3in (7.5cm) diameter box with butterfly lid was in good condition for its age and went to an Italian collector at a 10-times-mid-estimate £4000.
