Kerr jewellery £34,200 auction hope

6:44am Thursday 4th December 2008

Jewellery formerly owned and worn by Hollywood screen legend Deborah Kerr is expected to fetch up to £34,200 when it is sold at auction.

Her diamond three-stone engagement ring from her first marriage to Battle of Britain hero Anthony Bartley in 1945 is the most highly valued item of her jewellery due to go under the hammer. It is expected to fetch up to £25,000.

An amethyst necklace, 19th century diamond-set ring and a pearl, emerald and diamond bracelet are estimated to sell for as much as £2,000, £1,200 and £6,000 respectively.

Also on sale at Bonhams auctioneers in New Bond Street, London, on Thursday are two Deborah Kerr costume design sketches from the 1952 film Thunder in the East.

The collection, which Bonhams will sell on behalf of the late Kerr's family, has been sitting in a bank vault for the last few years, the auctioneers said.

It has been on public view at Bonhams since Sunday.

The actress, who died in October 2007 aged 86, starred in more than 50 films over four decades.

Among the best-known are From Here to Eternity (1953), in which she appeared alongside Burt Lancaster, The King and I (1956) in which she starred with Yul Brynner, and An Affair to Remember (1957) featuring Cary Grant.

She also played leading lady to Robert Mitchum, Clark Gable, James Mason, Stewart Granger, David Niven and Spencer Tracy during her career.

Of Scottish descent and educated in Bristol, Kerr originally trained as a ballet dancer, which she gave up in favour of drama.