GARDEN GNOME WHICH FEATURED ON BEATLES' ICONIC Sgt PEPPER´S ALBUM COVER SELLS FOR £29,000

• The tiny garden gnome is signed by all four members of the iconic band
• It appeared with celebrities and world figures on 1967 Sgt Pepper's artwork
• It was given to an assistant photographer following the shoot for the cover
• The cardboard garden ornament sold at auction for a surprising £29,000

A tiny garden gnome that appeared on the cover of the Beatles' Sgt Pepper's album and was signed by all four band member has sold for £29,000.  

The cardboard gnome featured alongside a host of celebrities and historic figures including actress Diana Dors, singer Bob Dylan and actor Marlon Brando on the psychedelic cover of the ground-breaking 1967 album.

In total more than 60 celebrities appear on the famous cover including the Fab Four themselves - but because it would have been impossible to get all of them in a room together, waxworks and cardboard cutouts were used instead.

The cardboard gnome featured alongside a host of celebrities and historic figures including actress Diana Dors, singer Bob Dylan and actor Marlon Brando on the psychedelic cover of the ground-breaking 1967 album

Other well-known figures include writer Edgar Allen Poe, dancer Fred Astaire, comedians Laurel and Hardy and boxer Sonny Liston, poet Dylan Thomas and philosopher Karl Marx.

The album cover was the brainchild of artists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth and photographer Michael Cooper, who constructed and shot it it on March 30, 1967.

John Lennon had wanted models of Jesus and Adolf Hitler to be included but his requests were denied.

The album cover ended up being so extravagant that the final cost of producing the artwork was £3,000 - a whopping £50,000 in today's money.

Following the shoot Mr Cooper's photography assistant was given the 20-inch tall cardboard gnome as a souvenir by The Beatles, who each signed it.

The front and back of the gnome were then mounted alongside an unopened copy of the Sgt Pepper's vinyl LP.

The cardboard gnome actually came in two parts and was pinned together for the cover. Gifted to a photography assistant it was signed by all for members of the band following the shoot

It emerged for sale almost 50 years after the album was released after it was listed for auction by a private collector.

Experts at Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas, had given the gnome a pre-sale estimate of $25,000 - around £17,000 - but it ended up going to an unnamed buyer for $42,500 - or £29,000.

Dean Harmeyer, from Heritage Auctions, said: 'This is a true rarity and a cornerstone piece of any Beatles collection.

The album cover ended up being so extravagant that it cost £3,000, equivalent to £50,000 in today's money

'Designer Peter Blake worked with the Beatles to stage the cover of Sgt. Pepper's, which was filled with life-size cardboard likenesses of famous figures - Mae West, Bob Dylan, Marlon Brando - behind the Beatles.

'Among the smaller items in the foreground was this garden gnome, which appears just to the right of George's leg.

'At the end of the cover session on March 30, 1967, the gnome was chosen as a memento by an assistant to cover photographer Michael Cooper, and it was signed by the Beatles immediately following the shoot.

'It is an incredible Beatles artefact.'

SGT PEPPER'S: FROM CONCEPTION TO CREATION

Paul had the initial idea for the iconic cover and outlined the cover in an ink drawing.

The actual designing of the cover was done by artists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth.

The cover’s collage of famous faces includes 57 cardboard cut-out photographs (including two gnomes) and nine waxworks.

They show a range of personalities from different walks of life including actors, sportsmen and scientists.

The album also reflects the personal and artistic changes within the band at the time Sgt Pepper's was made.

The influence of George’s exploration of Indian music and philosophy through the inclusion of self-realisation gurus.

The fab four themselves appear in day-glow, mock military uniforms. Paul envisioned the Sgt Peppers band as alter egos the Beatles could use to distance themselves from their previous incarnations.

John Lennon requested the inclusion of Hitler and Jesus in the artwork but he was turned down.

Elvis did not appear on the album cover because it was felt he was too big an icon to be included.