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Rolex watches, a director’s chair and a Chagall: Michael Caine to auction possessions as he downsizes to new home

Rolex watches, a director’s chair and a Chagall: Michael Caine to auction possessions as he downsizes to new home

Sir Michael Caine is selling a number of items from his career and personal life as he moves house.

The Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Shakira, are auctioning film posters, props and artworks at London’s Bonhams auction house in March.

“It’s going to be quite a wrench to part with so many treasured parts of my life and career, but it’s the right time to be moving on,” the 88-year-old said.

“I hope these mementos will give their new owners as much pleasure as they have given us.”

Among the items are a Rolex wristwatch expected to fetch up to £12,000, and two pairs of Caine’s distinctive spectacles which are being sold together.

A director's chair from the 1971 crime film Get Carter, in which Caine starred as gangster Jack Carter, could sell for up to £1,200.

Caine is also auctioning a poster from his acclaimed 1966 romantic comedy Alfie, which earned him a Best Actor Oscar nomination, and a two-piece poster for the Italian marketed film Zulu.

There are also some impressive artworks, such as a black chalk and pastel work by LS Lowry from 1920, titled Peel Park, which could sell for up to £18,000.

Michael Caine with his wife, Shakira, after being awarded ‘Commandeur des arts et des lettres’ by French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand, January 2011 (Getty Images)
Michael Caine with his wife, Shakira, after being awarded ‘Commandeur des arts et des lettres’ by French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand, January 2011 (Getty Images)

Among the most valuable items is Marc Chagall’s painting Les Amoureux Dans L’Arbre, which has an upper estimate of £50,000.

Lincoln Townley’s portrait of the veteran actor is also due to be sold, with an upper estimate of £15,000. Proceeds from the sale of this painting will go to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).

Bonhams’ director of house sales and iconic collections, Charlie Thomas, said: “Sir Michael Caine is a cinema legend internationally and a national treasure here in the UK.

“I know the Sir Michael Caine Collection sale will excite great interest among collectors and film fans alike.”

Caine married his wife Shakira, a Guyanese former actor and model, after seeing her in a British advert for Maxwell House coffee in 1971. They met after he discovered from a friend working in advertising that she lived just a few miles from him in London.

They were married in Las Vegas in 1973 and have one daughter together, Natasha. He has one other daughter, Dominique, from his previous marriage to actor Patricia Haines.

He dismissed reports last year that he was planning to retire from acting after he referred to comedy-drama Best Sellers as his “last film” during an interview.

Sir Michael Caine: The Personal Collection auction will take place at Bonhams in London on Wednesday 2 March.

Additional reporting by Press Association