A pair of Dame Edna Everage glᴀsses worn by the late entertainer Barry Humphries have sold for a whopping £37,800 at auction today.

The yellow-lacquered ‘Possum’ spectacles by Anglo American Eyewear sold for over 25 times their pre-sale estimate of £1500 and were worn by the star on many occasions in the 1980s.

The interior of one arm was incised with the label ‘POSSUM’ – a nod to Dame Edna’s famous catchphrase.

Dame Edna Everage was Humphries’ most identifiable invention with her lilac permed hair, outlandish cat-eye glᴀsses and garish gowns internationally recognisable around the globe.

But the veteran of stage and screen’s repertoire of characters also the uncouth, alcoholic ‘cultural attache’ Sir Les Patterson and the grandfatherly returned serviceman Sandy Stone.

A pair of Dame Edna Everage glᴀsses worn by the late entertainer Barry Humphries have sold for a whopping £37,800 at auction today

 The yellow-lacquered ‘Possum’ spectacles by Anglo American Eyewear sold for over 25 times their pre-sale estimate of £1500 and were worn by the star on many occasions in the 1980s

The interior of one arm was incised with the label ‘POSSUM’ – a nod to Dame Edna’s famous catchphrase 

The Australian comic legend died in April 2023 at the age of 89, and a state memorial was held at Sydney Opera House following his death.

He was also a successful musical theatre actor, talented landscape painter, film producer, author and scriptwriter.

The vast collection sold at Christies auction included 243 personal items from the late star and showed off his wide range of interests.

A depiction of Barry Humphries painting at Shoalhaven by the renowned Australian painter Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd, who died in 1999, sold for £32,760 over three times the pre-sale high estimate of £10,000. 

It was signed ‘Happy Birthday Barry/ From Arthur Boyd with/ Love Yvonne and Arthur’ and further inscribed ‘Please come back’.

Humphries himself was no stranger to a paintbrush, and a work by him тιтled The Library and Chapel – Quinta da Capela, Sintra, Portugal sold for £25,200, over eight times its estimate of £3000.

Leading the sale is work by the artist Charles Conder, whose painting Sand Dunes, Ambleteuse sold for £239,400.

The vast collection sold at Christies auction included 243 personal items from the late star and showed off his wide range of interests

Dame Edna Everage was Humphries’ most identifiable invention with her lilac permed hair, outlandish cat-eye glᴀsses and garish gowns internationally recognisable around the globe

His collection included a number of books and manuscripts, including a first edition copy of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, which is inscribed to Wilde’s publisher.

Read More Barry Humphries’ Sydney apartment sells for $6.1million – one year after the star’s death

Benedict Winter, ᴀssociate director of private and iconic collections at Christie’s London, said: ‘Barry Humphries is best remembered for his comedic genius, but behind his famous figure was a true polymath and connoisseur.’

‘His pᴀssion for collecting and his insatiable appeтιтe for deepening his knowledge was the driving force behind the acquisition of these fascinating and very diverse works of art. 

‘This refined and engaging collection provides compelling insights into the private world of this very public performer.’

Biographer Anne Pender wrote in 2010 that Humphries was both ‘the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin’ and ‘the most significant theatrical figure of our time’.

As Dame Edna he was one of British talk show host Michael Parkinson’s most popular regular guests and the gladioli-clutching matron even featured on the US comedy drama Ally McBeal.

Humphries himself was no stranger to a paintbrush, and a work by him тιтled The Library and Chapel – Quinta da Capela, Sintra, Portugal sold for £25,200, over eight times its estimate of £3000

Leading the sale is work by the artist Charles Conder, whose painting Sand Dunes, Ambleteuse sold for £239,400