Rosebud sled from Citizen Kane sells for £11m

The iconic “Rosebud” sled from Orson Welles’s 1941 classic Citizen Kane has sold for $14.75 million (£11 million) at auction, The Guardian reported.

It is now the second most expensive movie prop ever sold — only behind the $32.5 million ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, which sold in December 2024.

The sled was sold by director Joe Dante, who received it in 1984 while working on Explorers at Paramount Studios. “A crew member offered it to me as they were clearing out old props. I immediately knew it was something special,” Dante said.

Made of pine wood with original paint and some missing rails, the sled bears the wear of time and possibly war-era metal donations.

The prop has appeared in several of Dante’s works, including Gremlins 2, The Burbs, and the show Eerie, Indiana.

The exact number of sleds made for the film is unknown, but one was sold to Steven Spielberg in 1982 for $60,500, and another in 1996 for $233,000.

Other auction items included an X-wing miniature from The Empire Strikes Back, Indiana Jones’s whip, a Marilyn Monroe nude photo, Ben-Hur armor, and Audrey Hepburn’s Ralph Lauren blazer.

“These aren’t just props. They’re pieces of cinematic mythology,” said Joe Maddalena of Heritage Auctions. Read 'Zamin' on Telegram!