Un-popped podium champagne is sure to race away

A VERY rare bottle of champagne, which should have been popped on the podium at the end of the 2005 British Formula 1 Grand Prix, will go under the hammer in the Cotswolds next week.

Motor racing tradition dictates that the double magnum of champagne should have been sprayed by race winner Juan Pablo Montoya or runners-up Fernando Alonso or Kimi Raikkonen, but Formula 1 officials decided to scrap the celebration as a mark of respect for the 52 people who lost their lives in the London tube bombings three days earlier.

The three-litre bottle of Mumm champagne, which comes in a wooden box with a metal Formula 1 Official Champagne plaque on the lid, is described by auctioneer Philip Allwood as “very rare,” and carries an estimate of £500 to £800.

The lot is one of 39 bottles or cases of wine that will be sold at the Selected Antiques and Wines sale at Moore Allen & Innocent in Cirencester on Friday, March 5 from 10am.

The most expensive bottle of wine is likely to be a 1985 Petrus Pomerol, which carries an estimate of £500 to £700, whilst the top lot in the section is expected to be a case of 12 bottles of 2004 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac at £1,800 to £2,000.

But with estimates starting at £30 to £50, there are some good quaffing wines, as well as bottles destined for collections.

Wine isn’t the only large collection at the sale. There are 70 oriental works of art in jade and other precious and semi-precious stones, amassed by a single collector during the 1950s and 1960s, mostly from the likes of Liberty and Wartski.

Standout lots include a 7cm carved opalescent head of an oni with horns, moustache and winged ears, whose face glistens under the light, almost as though the evil spirit were caught inside the bornite stone. A bid of £500 to £800 should secure the lot, but bidders be warned – Chinese collectors have shown a great deal of interest in this collection, so be prepared for some stiff competition.

Besides the orient, there’s something of an African theme running through the sale. One of the most striking lots is a carved and painted wooden rocking horse as a zebra, by the renowned Stevenson Brothers. The 1.4m-tall horse has a black and white horse hair mane, leather saddle and bridle, and sits on an ebonised base. This superb 2002 example carries an estimate of £2,000 to £3,000.

A 20th century bronze figure of a white rhino, raised on an oval base, is a very striking piece indeed – especially given its size of over 70cm, horn to tail. It carries an estimate of £500 to £800. And an early 20th century Zulu ceremonial shield fashioned as a warthog, with shell, tusk and feather embellishments, carries an estimate of £100 to £150.

As always, the furniture section is well represented, with antique and modern pieces. A stand-out lot is a pair of 18th century German giltwood and glesso pier tables with cherubic and flowerhead decoration, and carrying the highest estimate of the sale – £4,000 to £6,000.

Budding film directors might focus on lot 401, a modern Italian plate glass and perspex coffee table after a design by Alesandro Albrizzi, estimated at £200 to £300, and believed to be from the estate of Orson Welles.

Famous names crop up throughout the sale – lot 103 is a handwritten and signed letter from Winston Churchill on House of Commons paper, dated 1945, with an estimate of £30 to £50, whilst an early 19th century deer hoof snuff box with George III crown mounted to the lid is inscribed Marquess of Anglesey Waterloo 1815.

The marquess was a commander at the Battle of Waterloo, and lost a leg in the action. The title was created for him in recognition of his heroism a fortnight after the battle. A bid of £200 to £300 should secure the lot. 

A rare bottle of champagne from the 2005 British Formula 1 Grand Prix, along with a bottle of 1985 Petrus Pomerol	A handwritten and signed letter from Winston Churchill on House of Commons paper, dated 1945
A 20th century bronze figure of a white rhino	An early 19th century deer hoof snuff box with George III crown mounted to the lid, inscribed Marquess of Anglesey Waterloo 1815
A 7cm carved opalescent head of an oni with horns, moustache and winged ears	A carved and painted wooden rocking horse as a zebra
A pair of 18th century German giltwood and glesso pier tables