As Charles Kane (Orson Welles) lies on his deathbed in the opening scene of “Citizen Kane,” a snow globe falls from his hand and shatters on the ground.
“Rosebud,” he says, setting in motion one of history’s greatest films as a dogged reporter hunts for the word’s meaning, only to find it refers to the media mogul’s childhood sled.
That sled, arguably among the most significant movie props in history, will sell at Heritage this month.
In 1984, a crew member on the set of “Explorers” was cleaning out storage areas on the Paramount lot and offered director Joe Dante a sled headed for disposal. Now known as the lost “Rosebud” sled, Dante realized the importance of the prop, tasking DirectAMS Radiocarbon Dating Service with showing that the sled’s wood originated prior to atomic bomb testing, which lined up with the filming of the movie.
Dante kept the piece, unrestored, in his personal collection for decades.
It’s now one of three known examples.
One of the others was made of balsa wood, created for the scene in which the sled is destroyed along with Kane’s possessions. It was purchased by Steven Spielberg in 1982 at Christie’s for $60,500.
The third, built for a scene early in the film in which a young Kane is playing in the snow before he is taken from his family, was given away to Arthur Bauer, a 12-year-old contest winner, in 1942 shortly after the film’s release.
Bauer, a student at P.S. 217 in Brooklyn, was a member of the school’s film club. After winning the contest, he was given a list of prizes to choose from and decided on “Rosebud.” Actress Bonita Granville presented him with the sled.
He sold it 50 years later at Christie’s for $233,500.
Heritage sold the most expensive movie prop in history last year, as a pair of Dorothy’s Ruby Red Slippers from “Wizard of Oz” fetched $32.5 million. Heritage previously sold Welles’ 1941 Oscar for Original Screenplay for $645,000.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.