Bidders all in a flap over bird of paradise

 

BIDDERS were all in a flap when a stuffed and mounted bird of paradise went under the hammer at the Cirencester auction rooms of Moore Allen & Innocent last Friday (February 5).

 

Originally from the rainforests of New Guinea, the bird was displayed in a naturalistic setting and housed under a glass dome. It sold at double its lower estimate, at £600, at the bi-annual sporting sale.

 

Collectors were also taken with a presidential looking bald eagle, which made £400 – bang in the middle of its £350 to £450 estimate.

 

But it wasn’t just birds that were flying out of the saleroom. A Victorian mastiff – once the mascot of a northern glass factory – attracted bids of £420, comfortably above its £200 to £300 estimate, perhaps due in parts to the fact that it graced the front cover of the auction catalogue.

 

On a doggy theme, the top price of the day – £1,200 – was achieved by ‘a study of three dogs on a moorland landscape’, painted in oils on canvas and signed by the Victorian artist Thomas Blinks. The buyer is in good company – the Queen counts pieces by Blinks among her personal collection. 

 

Over in the fishing section, a book – The Erne, Its Legends and Its Fly Fishing, written by the Reverend H Newland in 1851, caused considerable excitement among collectors, who drove the hammer price to £640.

 

As always, there was a large selection of antique fishing reels, and the catch of the day was a Hardy Silex Major 3.5” salmon spinning reel, complete with the maker’s stamped block leather case, which sold for £520.

 

Finally, by a brand beloved of the Beckhams and other modern day stars from the world of sport, a circa 1920 Louis Vuitton suitcase with leather strapping and brass locks and clasps, decorated all over in the distinctive flower and VT motifs, sold for £520 against an estimate of £300 to £500, which bearing in mind that the label’s modern equivalent costs just shy of £4,000 seems quite a good deal!

 

In all £35,000 worth of sporting antiques changed hands. The next sporting sale will be held on August 27. Forthcoming selected sales include March 5 and May 28, while the specialist picture sale in held on April 16. General sales are held every other Friday, with the next one on February 19.

 


A stuffed and mounted bird of paradise, which achieved £600 A Victorian mastiff – once the mascot of a northern glass factory – which attracted bids of £420
A stuffed and mounted bird of paradise, which achieved £600  A Victorian mastiff – once the mascot of a northern glass factory – which attracted bids of £420
A presidential looking bald eagle, which made £400 A circa 1920 Louis Vuitton suitcase with leather strapping and brass locks and clasps, decorated all over in the distinctive flower and VT motifs, which sold for £520

A presidential looking bald eagle, which made £400

 A circa 1920 Louis Vuitton suitcase with leather strapping and brass locks and clasps, decorated all over in the distinctive flower and VT motifs, which sold for £520
The top price of the day – £1,200 – was achieved by ‘a study of three dogs on a moorland landscape’, painted in oils on canvas and signed by the Victorian artist Thomas Blinks.
The top price of the day – £1,200 – was achieved by ‘a study of three dogs on a moorland landscape’, painted in oils on canvas and signed by the Victorian artist Thomas Blinks.