Chess set and Millennium hourglass belonging to Scottish Queen's Gambit creator to go under hammer

Now, items belonging to screenwriter, film producer and whisky executive Allan Scott, also known as Allan Schiach, are to be sold off at auction.

Mr Scott’s celebrated chess drama The Queen’s Gambit was a Netflix hit - almost 30 years after he originally bought the rights to the story.

The 86-year-old who was also co-writer of the stage musical adaptation of the 1990s film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and his wife, former actor Kathleen Breck, are to sell off some of the decorative items they have lived with in their homes over many years.

A highlight of the auction, to be held in England in September, is a classic chess set belonging to Mr Scott, himself a keen chess player, estimated at £200 to £400.

Meanwhile, a Millennium hourglass, especially commissioned for a New Year's eve party in the Scott family home in London. The 150 guests witnessed how the hourglass was turned around for the last hour of 1999 and it took pride of place in one of their houses in France for a long time afterwards. Over one metre in height, it is estimated at £500 - £800.

Other items include a large unglazed white earthenware charger by Pablo Picasso, which was conceived in 1956 and executed in an edition of 100, this being number 75, also estimated at £500-£800 and a signed lithograph in colour by LS Lowry, which is expected to sell for £800-£1,200.

Born in Elgin, Moray in 1939, Mr Scott went to Gordonstoun School before studying English Literature at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Here he met Chris Bryant with whom he achieved fame with live satirical cabaret in the 1960s.

Scott and Bryant later worked together on several screenplays including the 1973 psychological thriller Don't Look Now with Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland, which has been regarded as their first great success as screenwriters, directed by Nicolas Roeg with whom he also worked on The Witches in 1990.

He also served as chairman and chief executive of Macallan Distillery in Moray, from 1979 until the company was sold in 1997.

It took Mr Scott almost 30 years to convince the film industry that The Queen's Gambit, which starred Anna Taylor Joy, was meant for the screen. He bought the rights to the 1983 Walter Tevis novel, an author who passed away in 1984.

Actor Heath Ledger, a child chess champion himself, became very interested in directing the film of the story in 2007 and they even discussed the music for the film, when Ledger passed away suddenly.

More than ten years later and rejected by at least eight studios, Allan Scott found the perfect partner for the project in writer and director Scott Frank and the story of a chess prodigy, set against the background of the Cold War, became a worldwide Netflix success during the Covid lockdown: 62 million households watched it in the first 28 days of release and it ranked number one in 63 countries, becoming the most-watched miniseries ever in November 2020.

The auction takes place at Bellmans auction house on September 4.

Senan MacDonagh, spokeswoman for Bellmans, said: "We’re delighted to have been instructed to sell part of Allan and Kathleen Scott’s collection. Allan has had such an extraordinary and varied career, from screenwriter and producer to his years as a whisky executive at The Macallan, and the collection really reflects that interesting life and their shared eye for unusual and characterful pieces. It has been a real pleasure working with them, and we’re very much looking forward to the sale in September.”