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 . The knee-high little gnome , circled , appeared next to George Harrison 's left leg on the famous album cover . 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 . Peter Blake ( pictured ) and Jann Haworth designed the iconic cover using an ink drawing by Paul McCartney as inspiration . Paul McCartney 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 Harrison ’ 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 McCartney 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 . '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 . '
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 .