Updated: August 19, 2023

John Chambers prototype mutant bust maquette sculpture from Beneath the Planet of the Apes. ( TCF, 1970 ) In 1969, fresh from his Oscar-winning creation of the famed simians of Planet of the Apes, legendary makeup artist John Chambers was presented with an even greater challenge: to design the race of hyper-intelligent telepathic mutant humans who ruled Beneath the Planet of the Apes. The arduous process took several unusual turns - from weird combinations of human and animal forms to some distinctly Outer Limits -style aliens - before director Ted Post successfully argued that the Mutants should appear like the stripped anatomical specimens depicted in Gray's anatomy.

Acclaimed makeup artist Rob Bottin ( The Thing ) has stated that the Mutant makeups were among the most brilliant of Chambers' creations - and indeed they were a huge influence on a whole generation of makeup artists who followed. To our knowledge, this is the only one of John Chambers' hand sculpted clay maquette concepts - from Planet of the Apes or any other film - to ever be offered for sale. This one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted and hand-painted clay sculpture - found amazingly in near mint condition - is as close to the master's original work as one is ever likely to see, and represents a truly remarkable evolutionary step in one of John Chambers' greatest, most enduring and influential makeup designs.

Value: $2,000.