Record breakers and famous names at sporting sale
A RECORD-BREAKING leopard skin, silks worn by the most successful jockey of the Victorian era, a hunting horn reputedly owned by the nation’s most famous fox hunter, and an extremely rare set of books about boxing are among the stand-out lots at Moore Allen & Innocent’s Sporting Sale in the Cotswolds next Friday.
The leopard skin is a whopping 8ft 9ins from whiskers to tail, measures 5ft at its widest point, and holds a place in the Record Book of Big Game by Rowland Ward, the Norris McWhirter of taxidermy.
The leopard was shot under licence in July 1966, on private land at Kiganjo in Kenya. Its death sentence was signed when it started killing domestic livestock.
A lion skin, bagged by the same hunter, measures 9ft 8ins and has never been on display, guaranteeing its excellent condition. Again shot under licence, the lion was killed in the Maasai reserve in Kenya in 1966.
The skins are expected to be among the star lots of the taxidermy section of the sale, which takes place on Friday, August 27 in Cirencester. Each carries an estimate of £600 to £800.
The section also includes a rare one-and-three-quarter feet long rhinoceros horn, which has been in the same Cotswold family since it was shot three generations ago, and carries a guide price of between £10,000 and £15,000.
Only a handful of rhino horns come onto the market each year. Rhinos are protected species, and auctioneers can only sell horns if they were killed before 1947 and have been ‘crafted’ – mounted or carved into an ornament.
Rowland Ward’s name is attached to at least one other piece in the sale – the Piccadilly firm of taxidermists that bears his name stuffed and mounted a leopard, captured in all its snarling menace, in the late 19th century. The piece carries an estimate of £1,200 to £1,800.
The 120 lots include specimens from the largest to the smallest, including a collection of 200 framed and mounted exotic butterflies and beetles, which is expected to achieve £200 to £300.
Another big name in hunting appears in the pictures and books section, although the gentleman in question represents – perhaps more than any other – the sport of fox hunting.
A framed and mounted hunting horn, reputedly owned by the legendary 18th century huntsman John Peel, goes under the hammer with an estimate of £300 to £500, along with two portraits of the Cumbrian farmer who inspired the song D’ye ken John Peel with his coat so gay, D’ye ken John Peel at the break of day, D’ye ken John Peel when he’s far away, with his hounds and his horn in the morning.”
But the highlight from the section is a rare five-volume copy of Boxiana; or Sketches of Ancient and Modern Pugilismby the journalist Pierce Egan, who was writing about the outlawed no-holds-barred sport in the early- to mid-1800s.
What makes these volumes truly remarkable is that each volume is inscribed as belonging to the Daffy Club: one of the world’s first boxing clubs, which met during the time of Egan’s writing at the Castle Tavern, Holborn, kept by the famous boxers Tom Belcher and Tom Spring.
The set of books carries an estimate of £7,000 to £9,000. The Castle, meanwhile, can still be visited today, although the only sport on offer is soccer on giant screens.
Also in the bookcase is a vastly less valuable (£70 to £90) but very attractive 1912 copy of A Dog Day, written by Walter Emanuel and enduringly illustrated by the artist Cecil Aldin, whose work also appears alongside paintings and prints by luminaries including Snaffles and Lionel Edwards in the pictures section. The book is signed by both author and illustrator.
Elsewhere on the walls is a very rare edition of Snaffles’ famous The Best View in Europe, which features a white horse watching a huntsman and his mount jump a fence. The picture appeared in at least three variations, and going under the hammer is the one everyone wants – the version featuring a pair of hands holding the reigns of the horse… reputedly those of Snaffles himself.
The common version sells for around £500 to £800, but this one is expected to achieve in the region of £3,000 to £4,000.
In the equestrian section, the usual collection of riding hats, horns, whips and hip flasks is joined by a very unusual item – racing silks worn by the most successful jockey of the Victorian era, Cheltenham-born Fred Archer, when he won the 1,000 Guineas in 1879 on Wheel of Fortune. A bid of £150 to £200 should secure the lot.
Finally, and in keeping with the famous names themes, a fine collection of circa 1900 rods and reels have been found in excellent condition in a pine fisherman’s travelling case.
A two-and-seven-eighths-inch Harvey Perfect reel carries an estimate of £150 to £200, while two Hardy Greenheart trout rods in original canvas sleeves are expected to achieve £60 to £100 each.
A Hardy Greenheart salmon rod, also in its original canvas sleeve, will be sold in a lot with the pine case, with an estimate of £60 to £100. There is no maker’s mark on the box, but a stamp on the lid tells us it was owned by Captain Scarlett.
Presumably fishing was his way of unwinding after a busy week fighting his TV puppet show nemeses The Mysterons.
For more information about the sale log on to www.mooreallen.co.uk
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| A record-breaking leopard skin, with an estimate of £600 to £800 | The skin of a lion, shot by the same hunter, also £600 to £800 |
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| A stuffed and mounted leopard, £1,200 to £1,800 |
Silks worn by Fred Archer, the most successful jockey of the Victorian era (£150 to £200) |
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| A rare rhino horn with an estimate of £10,000 to £15,000 | A collection of 200 framed and mounted exotic butterflies and beetles, which is expected to achieve £200 to £300 |
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| A rare five-volume copy of Boxiana, estimate £7,000 to £9,000 |
An inscription inside attributing ownership to the Daffy Club |
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| A Dog Day (cover) and signed by the author and illustrator (estimate £70 to £90) | A hunting horn, reputedly owned by John Peel (£300 to £500) |