Charlie Chaplin hat and cane to go under hammer

Charlie Chaplin's iconic bowler hat and cane are to go under the hammer in Los Angeles this weekend, as part of an auction.

The hat and cane, trademark of Chaplin's Little Tramp character, are in "remarkable condition" and are estimated to go for between $40,000 and $60,000 at the sale by auction house Bonhams on Sunday.

Legend has it that Chaplin came up with the tramp persona and wardrobe spontaneously one rainy afternoon in February 1914, seizing various wardrobe items in a communal male dressing room at a Hollywood studio.

These included baggy trousers from Fatty Arbuckle, size 14 shoes which he had to wear on the wrong feet to keep them falling off, the hat belonging to Arbuckle's father-in-law, and a mustache intended for another actor.

The 32-inch (81-centimeter) bamboo cane is inscribed "CCLT 36" in black ink, a reference to the Little Tramp, Chaplin's signature character.

- AFP