Results: Militaria & Ethnographica Sale 25th June

A host of rare and interesting items were up for sale in the Militaria and Ethnographica Sale on 25^th June, the earliest of which was a Middle Bronze Age Complete Spearhead that sold for £1,200 (all figures exclude buyer’s premium). The spearhead, which was found by a metal detectorist in Northumberland, dated from circa 1550-1250 BC and was made from copper alloy.  Selling well, too, was an Oak Plank from H.M.S. Victory (sold for £650). Painted white on one side, it was a section of the decking of Nelson’s legendary ship. A Bronzed Inkwell Modelled as a Battleship Gun Turret, once on the First World War Battleship H.M.S. Revenge, sold well at £500.

A good range of medals in the sale included a Waterloo Medal 1815, which was awarded to John Sims of the 51^st Regiment Light Infantry; selling for £3,500, the lot was accompanied by a copy of his Statement of Service which detailed his eleven years of service and details of discharge as a consequence of a wound received at Lizaco, Spain, during the Peninsular War. Selling well, too, was a First World War DSC Group of Medals, which were awarded to Captain George F. Hiles, Master of S.S. Portaferry, which rescued the crew of a French steamer after she had been torpedoed by an enemy submarine in 1917 (sold for £1,700). According to an accompanying document, the merchant ship went to the aid of the stricken steamer despite the submarine being spotted in the area. Indeed, the S.S. Portaferry was fired upon, but the shot went wide, and the master and crew of the merchant ship went without food to feed the rescued crew.

There were also good quality police truncheons, cap badges, Victorian and Edwardian helmet plates and various Edwardian, Victorian and later uniforms, highlights of which included an Edwardian Blue Wool Tunic to a Quartermaster Sergeant Major, 1^st Berwick on Tweed Artillery Volunteers (sold for £450), and a Victorian Officer’s Scarlet Coatee to the 68^th (Durham Light Infantry), which sold together with further Durham regiment mess jackets for £700. A good pair of Second World War German 8 x 60 ‘Fat’ U-Boat Binoculars made by Carl Zeiss sold for £2,500.

The sale also offered nearly 120 lots of regimental silver from The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths' Own) Regiment and The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, which was sold to benefit The Royal Lancers Charitable Trust and the Fusiliers' Aid Society respectively. Notable prices achieved amongst the silver included a pair of George V Silver Copies of the Warwick Vase, which were made in London in 1910 by the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Company and used as the Punjab Bengal Football Challenge cup (sold for £3,000), and a Victorian Silver Novelty Lighter, by Alexander Macrae, London, 1877 in the form of a drum horse of the lancers, which sold for £1,800.

The sale achieved a total hammer price of £119,131 for 427 lots, and an 84% sold rate.

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