A leopard’s head was the highest selling lot in a Cumbrian auction house’s sale last week.
Mitchells’ Country Sporting Sale, at its Cockermouth saleroom, saw the 1939 taxidermy head by Van Ingen reach £3,400
Van Ingen of Mysore in India was one of the world’s greatest taxidermy firms serving international nobility as well as the maharajas of India for nearly 100 years before finally closing in 1991.
Other valuable taxidermy included a Victorian entomology display cabinet containing 30 drawers of specimens with a wide selection of beetles, weevils and caterpillars, which sold for £550.
A Doleschel Grulich Edwardian long-eared owl diorama made £280, a cased black grouse by Robert Duncan, of Newcastle, and a Pine Grosbeak in a glazed oak case by the renowned taxidermist Carl Church, of Pickering, made £260 each.
The highest selling lots among the guns were a Blaser F3 12 bore over/under shotgun with 30” barrels sold for £1,800 and an unused Beretta 690 111 Field 12 bore over/under shotgun which made £1,350.
A Tramper Off Road mobility scooter with trailer made £2,900 and a Transk 9 dog carrying box made £260.
Among the sporting art was a selection of highly collectable hunting cartoons by the renowned Keswick illustrator John Wilk Wilkinson (1906-1994).
The most valuable was a watercolour cartoon dated 1982 depicting Johnny Richardson and the Blencathra Foxhounds at the Blencathra Kennels which sold for £550.
Mitchells’ next three-day Country Sporting Sale will be held in April and anyone considering consigning items for sale should contact sporting specialist and auctioneer James Moore on 01900 827800 for a free valuation.
Entries are now invited for Mitchells’ next three-day Antiques & Fine Art Sale from November 29 to December 1, with a closing date for entries of Tuesday, October 31.
It will feature a special section of Cumbrian art and people are invited to bring their local artworks, jewellery and other items to the saleroom for a free appraisal at a drop-in valuation event on Friday, October 20 between 10am and 2pm, hosted by picture specialist James Forster and jewellery specialist Mark Wise.
For those in the South Lakes and wider area, Valuer David Brookes will be hosting another pop-up Valuation event in aid of St Mary’s Hospice on Friday October 27 at Millom Library from 10am to 2pm.
Mitchells will now be holding weekly drop-in valuations every Friday at their saleroom in Cockermouth between 10am and 2pm.
