A pair of glasses worn by comedy legend Eric Morecambe have sold for £20,000 at a memorabilia auction in Hertfordshire.
The late comic – who died in 1984 aged just 58 – was part of an iconic and hilarious duo with his comedy partner Ernie Wise, who died in 1999.
Morecambe and Wise ruled the airways in Britain from the late 1960s until the former’s sudden death from a heart attack in the mid-1980s.
Known for their famous sketches – including Andre Previn, Bring Me Sunshine, and the Breakfast routine – their numerous episodes and specials were woven into the fabric of UK pop culture.
Synonymous with Morecambe’s comic identity were his thick-framed glasses, which he sometimes used for comedic affect during their routines.
A pair of them, in imitation tortoiseshell by company Metzler, sold for £20,000 this weekend alongside his Barling briar smoking pipe and two black and white photographs of him wearing the glasses.
The TV star was also known for smoking pipes and a selection of them were sold in a lot that fetched £1,100, while a tailcoat and trousers, writing desk, and Breitling watch were also sold.
Morecambe was made an OBE in 1976 and his medal, awarded by the late Queen Elizabeth II, sold for £11,000, which was £8,000 above its highest estimate.
An oil canvas painting by royal portrait artist Richard Stone depicting Morecambe sitting down smoking a cigar sold for £15,000.
On top of those items, a version of his ventriloquist dummy Charlie, which he took to America to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, sold for £6,200.
The items went up for sale after Morecambe’s widow Joan died in March last year, aged 97, just under 40 years after her husband’s tragic passing.
Elsewhere, a personal letter from King Charles III – who was the Prince of Wales at the time – fetched £2,500.
And a vintage Admiral tracksuit from Morecambe’s beloved Luton Town, featuring his likeness which was given to him by the football club, sold for £5,500.
Charles Hanson, of Hanson Auctioneers said: ‘We were thrilled with the extraordinary results achieved at this auction. Eric Morecambe’s legacy lives on in the hearts of millions.
‘The prices reflect not only the quality and uniqueness of the items but also the deep affection fans continue to hold for him. It’s been an incredible two days.’
Morecambe and Wise’s 1977 Christmas episode is among the most-watched episodes of live television ever broadcast in the UK, pulling in 28 million viewers.
In 2002, he was named as one of the 100 Greatest Britons in a national poll, and Queen Elizabeth II unveiled a statue of him in Morecambe in 1999.
Luton Town also unveiled a suite named after him, while J D Wetherspoon opened a public house called the Eric Bartholomew in Morecambe in 2004 – based on his real name, John Eric Bartholomew.
Eric Morecambe’s iconic glasses fetch whopping five-figure sum at ‘extraordinary’ auction