Militaria and Ethnographica continues to perform well at auction, with Tennants Auctioneers’ specialist sale on 8th July resulting in very strong prices across all sections, with a high percentage of lots selling above estimate and a 98% sold rate.
The top lot of the sale was a fine pair of 19th Century Percussion Duelling Pistols by John Manton & Sons, London, which sold for £8,500 plus buyer’s premium. This pair of pistols were originally the property of Baron von Arnsdorf of Germany and survived a bombing raid during the Second World War when they were buried under rubble. Amongst an interesting array of weapons in the sale were a 1795 Cast iron One Pounder Cannon, which sold for £1,700 (plus b.p.), and a First World War prototype model of a Coastal Defence Gun that had been made in 1915 and submitted to the Ministry of Defence for Approval, which sold for £1,900 (plus b.p.).
A Collection of Militaria relating to the Border Regiment inspired competitive bidding amongst collectors. The lot, which comprised cap and collar badges, buttons, cloth insignia, helmet plates, dog tags and more, sold for £2,800 (plus b.p.) against an estimate of £200-300. Selling strongly, too, was an Edwardian Full Dress Part Uniform to 2nd Lieutenant Cecil Foster of the Yorkshire Hussars, which was part of the Selected Contents of the Attic of Stockeld Park being sold by Tennants, which sold for £1,000 (plus b.p.). Amongst the Medal section of the sale came a group relating to the Cooper Family in the Great War. Selling for £800 (plus b.p.), the lot included a British War Medal and Victory Medal awarded to Sydney Cooper and two First World War Casualty Groups awarded to Bernard Cooper and Horace Cooper.
Anything unusual or unique always attract good levels of interest in the saleroom, and a Napoleonic Waterloo Battlefield Relic certainly caused a stir. The wooden hub of a gun carriage with iron rims was set with a brass badge of a French eagle and a plaque engraved with ‘Le Combat de Waterloo 1815’ and sold for £900 (plus b.p.). Selling strongly, too, was an early 20th Century double sided enamel sign for Remington Waterproof Cartridges; this colourful piece of advertising sold for £900 (plus b.p.).
Finally, amongst the Ethnographica section of the sale, came a Late 19th Century Fijian Ula or throwing club. Inset with a single human tooth, the club sold for £900 (plus b.p.).
The sale resulted in a total hammer price of £53,000 for 153 lots, with a 98% sold rate. Lots are now being accepting for the next sale of Militaria and Ethnographica on 4th September 2020.
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