Pop culture memorabilia - including a Friends script and a letter by J. R. R. Tolkien - was auctioned off at a Herts salesroom last month.
Hanson Ross, based in Royston, has been attracting a host of celebrity items following the sale of a Friends TV script in January, which had been found in a bin and sold for £22,000.
Inspired by this success, the auction house held its inaugural pop culture sale in April, featuring 170 items including Hollywood, TV, film, music and sports memorabilia.
Ollie Locke with his Friends script (Image: Hanson Ross)
Star billing went to another Friends script owned by actor and Made in Chelsea star Ollie Locke.
His script, for The One Where Rachel Has a Baby, was autographed by the cast and sold at £12,000.
In addition, another script for season two, episode two of Friends - given to actress Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe - went for £2,500, and a 1994 'Friends Like Us' pilot script for the show - belonging to screenwriter Ira Ungerleide - went for £2,600.
Ollie Locke's script signed by the cast of Friends (Image: Hanson Ross)
Major interest was also sparked by a letter from Lord of the Rings author J. R. R. Tolkien, written to an eight-year-old fan in 1961, which was sold for £8,000.
Another high achieving lot was a Groot mask used in the film production of Guardians of the Galaxy, which was owned by prosthetics sculptor Jim Sparrow and went for £4,800.
The sale also included sports items such as a boxing glove signed by Muhammad Ali and related memorabilia, which sold for £420.
One of the lots was a boxing glove signed by Muhammad Ali (Image: Hanson Ross)
One of the lots, which sold for £240, contained photos of stars - many of them signed - including Joanna Lumley, Christopher Lee, Bob Hoskins and Tom Selleck, along with other film and music-related memorabilia.
The auction made more than £50,000 in total.
Amanda Butler, head of operations at Hanson Ross, said: "When that Friends script hammered at £22,000 from a £600-£800 guide in January, it plunged us into the limelight.
Film memorabilia sold for £240 (Image: Hanson Ross)
"It sparked huge media coverage and 219 advance bids from all over the world including the UK, USA, Germany, Spain, Australia, Ukraine, Dubai and Switzerland.
“That success led to us being inundated with enquiries from new clients keen to consign all kinds of TV and film memorabilia. It’s also led to us forging connections in Hollywood which is exciting.
A Groot mask from Guardians of the Galaxy was sold at the auction (Image: Hanson Ross)
"The entertainment industry inspires a vibrant collectors’ market. We’re proud to be a part of it and hope to play a starring role in this specialist area in the years to come.
“We hope this will be the first of many pop culture auctions at our Royston saleroom and we’re looking forwarding to uncovering more important finds."
The first page of Tolkien's letter, sent in 1961 (Image: Hanson Ross)
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