Alien

An original prop used in the production of Alien, the 1979 science fiction classic directed by Ridley Scott with design from legendary Swiss surrealist H. R. Giger.

This panel formed part of the Nostromo shuttle bay from which the Narcissus is launched as Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) escapes, this was built as an enlarged miniature set at Bray Studios by a talented visual effects team headed up by Brian Johnson and Nick Allder who along with H. R. Giger, Carlo Rambaldi and Dennis Ayling received the 1979 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in recognition of their achievements.

The panel is constructed from vacuum formed plastic finished in grey paint and features various raised parts which were dressed with a variety of model kit parts by assistants such as Martin Bower and Bill Pearson. A number of differing designs of these panels can be seen used on the shuttle bay set and they were decorated on an individual basis, an identically formed panel from the same pattern can be located on the miniature set which features slightly different dressing. Following filming this miniature set was dismantled and destroyed with this panel representing the only survivor ever seen or handled by The Prop Gallery, three of the staples used to fix the panel to the wooden frame remain present.

The panel measures a very impressive 25" long and over 13" wide, it remains in excellent production used condition with part of the one end having been intentionally trimmed when building the set, this evidenced by the fact that the cut edges are painted, there is minor damage to one corner, a 3" crack to the centre which does not compromise it structurally and several minor detail pieces lacking, otherwise fine.

This represents an extraordinarily rare and highly displayable artefact from this influential science fiction classic now celebrating its 40th anniversary.