Elizabeth Taylor’s Gold Cape from ‘Cleopatra’ to be Auctioned

The iconic gold cape that Hollywood glamour legend Elizabeth Taylor wore, for her role as Cleopatra in the 1963 film of the same name, is set to go under the hammer at Heritage Auctions, on 30 March.

The cape, made from leather and gold, is expected to fetch about £13,000. It is crafted in a way to resemble the wings of a phoenix and designed using thin panels of gold-painted leather adorned with hand-stitched gold bugle beads, seed beads and bead-anchored sequins.

Taylor wore the cape in two key scenes - Cleopatra's dramatic entrance to Rome, which is the considered the most lavish portrayal of the event in film history - and where she commits suicide.

"These are just a few of the highlights and legendary names we have lined up in this auction," Margaret Barrett, Director of Entertainment & Music auctions at Heritage said in the press release.

"Taylor was featured in countless newspaper and magazine articles wearing this cape," Barrett added, "most famously on the cover of the Oct. 6, 1961 issue of Life. While the $194,800 budget for Taylor's costumes was the highest ever for a single actor at the time, the film's costume designer, Irene Sharaff, made good use of it, winning an Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Color, for her work."