Marcel Marceau's black hat and red rose to be auctioned in Paris

Marcel Marceau's scruffy black top hat, red flower and striped pullover are among hundreds of personal belongings of the late mime artist that have gone under the hammer in a sale designed to pay off his considerable debts.

His family had hoped until the last moment to persuade the French state to pay for the items and turn his home in Bercheres-sur-Vesgre, west of Paris, into a museum - to no avail.

Besides the white sailor suit with a striped shirt, Marceau's tight-fitting jacket is among the 900 possessions in the sale at Drouot Richelieu auction house in Paris, which began yesterday, and continues today.



Marceau's hat, in worn burlap, is estimated at 1,000 - 1,500 euros (£875 - 1,300), while the sailor suit is expected to fetch 1,500 - 2,000 euros. One of the most expensive items is an intricate late 19th century wind-up figurine of a turbaned fortune teller, estimated at 7,000 - 9,000 euros.

The mime, whose white-faced stage persona Bip the Clown mesmerised international audiences for 60 years, died in September 2007, aged 84.

His family admitted, however, that he was a "better artist than he was a businessman". Marceau's daughter, Camille, said she was obliged to organise the sale given her late father's outstanding debts, describing the auction as a "real heartbreaker".