Russell Crowe’s guitars and vintage violin go under the hammer

Russell Crowe unleashed hell at auction on the weekend when the Gladiator star offloaded some of his life’s prizes, from the violin he played in Master & Commander, a stash of guitars and his jockstrap from The Cinderella Man.

Crowe’s jockstrap from The Cinderella Man

The Oscar-winning tough guy felt he no longer needed his vast collection of mementos after splitting from his pop singer wife Danielle Spencer in 2012. So he flogged the lot in his so-called “Art of Divorce” auction.

Crowe waved goodbye to his collection of electric guitars, which he sometimes wielded with his pub-rock outfit 30 Odd Foot of Grunts. A 1986 Grammy Award jointly presented to Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Sam Phillips, Rick Nelson and Chips Moman made a whopping $150,000, and a violin made by Leandro Bislach in the late 19th century that Crowe played in Peter Weir’s Master and Commander fetched $135,000.

Crowe’s violin made by Leandro Bislach

Not all the items will disappear into man-caves around the country

The National Museum of Australia shelled out $10,000 for the Doc Martens he wore in his breakthrough 1992 role in Romper Stomper, and another $2,000 for the costume he wore in 1993’s The Silver Brumby.

All told, almost 200 items changed hands, raking in a cool $3.7 million. “Not a bad hourly rate for a five-hour shift,” Crowe said afterwards.

The auction was held Saturday on his 54th birthday, which is also the date of his wedding anniversary.

Crowe, who won the best actor Oscar for his portrayal of the heartbroken hardman Maximus in 2000’s Gladiator, probably didn’t need the cash. The NZ-born actor commands multi-million dollar fees every time he steps in front of a camera and his career earnings are estimated at upwards of $75 million.

The Stunt cuirass worn by Russell Crowe in Gladiator (2000)

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.