CHARLES HUTCHINSON looks at an exhibition which brings together memorabilia from the last century.

IMAGINE John Lennon, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Charlie Chaplin in one corner. Churchill, Mussolini, Hitler, Kennedy, Castro and Mandela in another. Over there, Edmund Hillary and Neil Armstrong, mountaineer and moonwalker. Pele is in the throng too, and so are the England World Cup winners from 1966, looking not a day older.

All are to be found at Nunnington Hall, where they shall rub shoulders from next Saturday to April 23, when the National Trust property seeks to contain the history of the 20th century in one upstairs room.

For the first of two exhibitions at the hall on the theme of celebrity, property manager Simon Lee has collaborated with auctioneers Frasers of London to exhibit personal belongings, effects and memorabilia of the leading players of the last century under the title of 20th Century Icons.

The precise number of items on show and for sale is yet to be confirmed. With a week to go to the exhibition launch, bangles from an early Madonna video are still awaited, and so is jewellery once worn by Judy Garland, but such is the transient nature of the memorabilia market that Frasers could adjust the inventory up to the last minute.

Most of the stock has arrived already, and Simon Lee is settling to the task of writing the exhibition notes that will complement and link the artefacts on view. What an evocative collection they make, from Bette Davis's black hat to John Lennon's woollen hat, given to Apple employee Nigel Oliver by Lennon in 1968 and now valued at £2,500.

"We were looking for something different and unique to exhibit in the hall," says Simon. "We had a discussion among the staff and we felt that having changed century, this might be the chance to look at the icons of the last century. That gave us a huge scope, and obviously you can't cover everyone or everything from the century, so it's a snapshot of the great people and great events."

Inevitably, framed autographs feature prominently, with a full set of The Beatles' signatures topping the price tags at £6,500, while a 1955 movie theatre playbill for The Seven Year Itch, signed flamboyantly by Marilyn Monroe, will cost £4,500.

Among the politicians, Hitler heads the price list at £4,950 for a signed photograph, followed by Churchill's signed 1942 pen and ink portrait by DJ Bard at £3,950; Castro's signed diploma, £2,250; Mussolini, £555, and Nelson Mandela, £500.

There is a sense of holding a little piece of history in your hand when touching a South African first-day cover, signed by Mandela to mark his inauguration as president on May 10, 994. Likewise, seeing a cheque signed with a theatrical flourish by Jack Ruby has you leaping ahead of yourself, thinking how the hand that held that pen was the hand that held the gun that shot the man who shot the President.

JFK is in the building too, in the form of a single hair follicle, cut by his personal barber, Harry Gelbart, at Peter Lawford's Santa Monica beach house in July 1963. The year he died. The room chills again at that thought, and not at the price of £495 for the framed follicle.

The personal effects and small items linger longest in the memory. Marilyn Monroe's black stocking had been given away by the tragic film star at the time she was making her abandoned last movie, Something's Got To Give. A piece of the skin of the Hindenburg, the fated great Zeppelin that burst into flames in 1937, is another reminder of vulnerability. By way of contrast, a tiny fragment of gold foil from Apollo 11 provides a permanent, tangible reminder of the 1969 moon landing, with the accompanying Buzz Aldrin signature sending the price into orbit at £2,000.

There are plenty more autographs, Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Sinatra, and Grace Kelly, signing herself as Grace de Monaco; Titanic survivor Millvina Dean; Edmund Hillary, or Ed Hillary as he writes.

On a lighter note, Eric Clapton and Elton John compete for the most colourful contribution: Slow Hand's Hawaiian shirt versus Sir Elton's tie, exclusively designed for the Pinner piano man in the gaudiest of grid patterns by New Yorker Gene Meyer.

"We all feel an ownership of celebrity that we would not have done before the technological progress of the 20th century," says Simon Lee.

At Nunnington Hall, little acorns of celebrity can be purchased from next weekend until April 23.

In the second show of Nunnnington Hall's spring and summer programme, the iconic photography of British snapper Terry O'Neill will be on view from May 1 to June 25. His exhibition of Hollywood portraiture, entitled Celebrity, first ran at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Admission to each exhibition is covered by the normal admission price to the hall. Ring 01439 748283 for ticket information and opening hours.

Updated: 09:47 Saturday, March 13, 2004