A breaking news announcement at a Cornwall auctioneer has removed many lots from one of the biggest sales of maritime artefacts in recent years.
Lay’s Auctioneers of Penzanze posted this statement to their website just a week before the Charlestown Shipwreck Museum Sale was due to start on November 6.
“We are pleased to announce that an institutional home has been found for many of the most important shipwreck artefacts from Charlestown’s incredible collection.
“As auctioneers, we always relish the drama of a competitive saleroom, but with a sensitive collection such as this, we recognise the importance of keeping these artefacts together and preserving them for posterity. These lots have been withdrawn from the auction.”
Before this shock news, over 7,000 items from the Shipwreck Treasure Museum had been due to sell in 1,260 lots. Now 500 have been removed.
The museum is closing, and attempts to sell it with its contents had failed, leading to an item-by-item auction that was attracting considerable interest.
Chief among the attractions are items from the Titanic, by far the most collectible shipwreck, and a major cultural touchstone even in the 21st Century.
The figurehead of the Queen is over 1 metre tall and extremely striking.Image courtesy Lay’s Auctioneers.
A piece of coal from the legendary liner is still on sale with a £400 – £600 estimate.
And those fascinated by the disaster-struck vessel can bid for models expected to realise, respectively, up to £800 and as much as £1,200 at sale.
The lots listed still constitute a major maritime sale. They include guns, diving suits, uniforms and many ship parts.
Most valuable by estimate is a 1970s Wharton Williams 2W Diving Bell that was used to rescue £40 million-worth of gold bars from the wreck of the HMS Edinburgh in 1981.
That could sell for as much as £50,000.
The figurehead from The Queen, a sailing ship lost near Brighton around 1880, and a striking piece of naval sculpture, carries an estimate of £8,000 to £12,000.
And a piece of rope from the wreck of Henry VIII’s flag ship, The Mary Rose, is to sell with a £5,000 to £10,000 estimate.
David Lay of Lay’s Auctioneers said: “Virtually nothing that comes from the Mary Rose ever comes on to the market. It’s just so unusual.”
The institutional buyer has yet to be named, but maritime collectors will still be focused on Cornwall next week.
