It’s his 54th birthday, and it would have been his 15th wedding anniversary, so it was time to clear out “stuff”.

Actor Russell Crowe has held his “Art of Divorce” auction – a sort of parting of the wares – in Sydney. He separated from singer Danielle Spencer in 2012.

His torso armour from Gladiator smashed expectations, making A$125,000 ($95,000; £68,000) and his Master and Commander violin sold well too.

There was also fierce competition for his Cinderella Man jockstrap.

It went for A$7,000, more than 10 times the estimate.

But there was also some top-notch Australian art on show from artists such as Sidney Nolan and Margaret Olley. A piece called The Suitor by Charles Blackman fetched A$360,000.

That far outstripped the A$135,000 paid for the Leandro Bislach violin played by Crowe’s character in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. The uniform he wore in the film fetched A$135,000.

The Gladiator replica chariot went for A$65,000, nearly seven times above estimate, but the neo-Nazi boots from Romper Stomper went on estimate at A$10,000.

A 1986 Grammy Award presented to Johnny Cash and other music artists made $150,000.

The New Zealand-born actor appeared at the sale, hearing a rendition of Happy Birthday and three cheers, and saying: “G’day folks, how’re you doing?”

He had earlier said the sale was all about moving on – a “watershed moment”.

Among the 227 lots of “stuff” (as he calls it) on sale were:

• A scarf and a pair of old shoes from State of Play
• Numerous guitars he’s collected (his band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts never won much critical acclaim)
• A Merc used on his wedding day in 2003
• A Shane Warne Test cricket jersey
• The cloth angel doll from The Sum of Us
• The leather sketchbook from 3:10 to Yuma
• Chain mail and other clothing from Robin Hood
• A Javert costume from Les Miserables

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