Westworld fans reminiscing about the dystopian sci-fi show can acquire a piece of it for themselves, courtesy of an online sale that just opened launched at Heritage Auctions. Showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy made television history in 2016 when they debuted their serialized take on Michael Crichton’s 1973 film Westworld to record-setting ratings and widespread acclaim. HBO canceled Westworld in August 2022, just before its fifth season. Now, more than 230 costumes, cars and set dressings are up for auction.
“This is one in a series of auctions we’ve held in conjunction with HBO, including Watchmen and Succession,” Jax Stroble, Heritage Auctions’ Director of Studio Relations told Artnet News. “They take place once a show has wrapped.” In a statement, Strobel noted, “Westworld wasn’t just prestige programming—it was provocative, thrill-ride television in which a loyal fanbase invested time and emotion trying to figure out their way through the maze.”
Both as a film and a series, Westworld begins around the year 2050, at a Wild West-themed amusement park where rich patrons enact fantasies without consequence, enriched by android “hosts.” In the premier episode, a few of these hosts—including a farmer’s daughter named Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood)—gain memory and newfound sentience after a software update. Over the following four seasons, these humanoids leave Westworld, and Dolores leads a real-world revolution.
This month’s auction includes a real prototype host with a vitruvian ring in one lot, and a dip tank that would “animate” the host in another. There are numerous automobiles on offer as well, some of which are functional. Four electric motorbikes that appeared in Westworld season three are equipped with Sans brand chargers. A more unique white ride seen in the background of season four features glass sides and a semicircle of six white seats. It’s listed as a “custom prop,” with a manual gas throttle and brake. Sadly, it’s not road-certified.
Costumes, however, are the sale’s centerpiece. Almost every character appears. Imagine owning Dolores Abernathy’s Sweetwater dress, (although this one did belong to her stunt double). The iconic eight-piece ensemble donned by the Man In Black (Ed Harris), the show’s first antagonist, is available too. Los Angeles-based haberdashery Baron’s Hats still sells replicas of that piece, but there’s only one original. Thandiwe Newton received a Primetime Emmy Award for her portrayal of another enlightened host, the former Westworld madam Maeve Millay, whose alluring six-piece fuschia gown will also hit the block.
There is even art up for grabs. Before Abernathy realizes she’s living in a simulation, episode one shows her setting down “the natural splendor” of her home in watercolor. One lot includes three iterations of that work in varied stages, one of which with brushstrokes from the actress. They are all prints as opposed to paintings, but they might sell for more than most emerging artists would dream of. Bidding on these TV treasures closes April 27.
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