Fighting artefacts go into biding war
AN unusually long late 18thcentury ironwood “Aku-tau” or war club, hailing from Tonga, sold for £9,500 (plus buyer’s premium) in Tennants Auctioneers’ recent Militaria and Ethnographica sale.
Measuring 122cm long, the club was finely carved with geometric shapes and stylised human figures, known as glyphs. A rich, dark, shiny patina attracted the attention of collectors, saw the lot soar above the £2,000 to £3,000 estimate.
From the same private collection as the club was a rare Korean “war” helmet that sold well too, despite being slightly misshapen.
Possibly made in the 17th century, the lacquered leather and steel helmet sold to a South Korean buyer for £4,800.
A London Pistol Company six-shot single-action percussion revolver, which was patented in 1859, sold for £700, and a late-18th-century Irish brass crossbelt plate sold for £1,500.
A collection of celluloid and photo button badges and compact mirrors sold very well, too.
Manufactured by White & Lambert Ltd of Birmingham, they were retained after the business was sold.
The badges proved popular in the saleroom, and a collection of 96 lateVictorian and Edwardian celluloid button badges depicting patriotic flags, politicians and military leaders such as Winston Churchill and Lord Kitchener, sold for £900.
Two early 20th-century “Votes for Women” badges sold for £380, and a group of ten late-19th and early-20thcentury football and cricket badges sold for £600.
The sale resulted in a total hammer price of £66,960 for 242 lots, a sold rate of 91 per cent.