Updated: March 27, 2005

John Chambers prototype mutant bust maquette sculpture from Beneath the Planet of the Apes. (TCF, 1970) In 1969, fresh from his Oscar-winning creation of the famed simians of Planet of the Apes, legendary makeup artist John Chambers was presented with an even greater challenge: to design the race of hyper-intelligent telepathic mutant humans who ruled Beneath the Planet of the Apes. The arduous process took several unusual turns - from weird combinations of human and animal forms to some distinctly Outer Limits-style aliens - before director Ted Post successfully argued that the Mutants should appear like the stripped anatomical specimens depicted in Gray's anatomy.

Acclaimed makeup artist Rob Bottin (The Thing) has stated that the Mutant makeups were among the most brilliant of Chambers' creations - and indeed they were a huge influence on a whole generation of makeup artists who followed. To our knowledge, this is the only one of John Chambers' hand sculpted clay maquette concepts - from Planet of the Apes or any other film - to ever be offered for sale. This one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted and hand-painted clay sculpture - found amazingly in near mint condition - is as close to the master's original work as one is ever likely to see, and represents a truly remarkable evolutionary step in one of John Chambers' greatest, most enduring and influential makeup designs.

(*) Photos & info courtsey of Profiles in History!

Value: $1,500 - $2,500