Their January 11 sale at the Old Ship Hotel in Mere had a healthy selection of tribal art including these two Zulu hardwood pipes. And with Bonhams being the only London auction house to hold specific tribal art sales, Mr Finan had no difficulty finding interested buyers.
The pipes, one of which was decorated with wirework decoration and the other inlaid in lead with two stars, had come from a house clearance in Hamworthy, nr Poole.
They were in good condition and good examples of their type and Mr Finan estimated them at £300-400. But high interest levels saw them contested way above that, causing Mr Finan to remark, “People are often keen to re-stock in January so maybe we caught the market at a quiet point.” In any case, the pipes sold at £640 to a specialist Bond Street dealer.
Elsewhere in the sale a Royal ‘County Driver’ cricket bat by Stuart Surridge bearing the signatures of the 1948 English and Australian teams took £1000, and an Enfield bayonet with an 18in Wilkinson Sword Co. spearpoint blade brought £430.
Smoke signals a new Zulu dawn for auctioneer
Wiltshire auctioneers Finan & Co., have carved out a niche for themselves by steering clear of brown furniture and 19th century porcelain and offering slightly more exotic fare.
