Bidding takes flight as fibreglass moths are auctioned for £85,000
AN AUCTION of 25 fibreglass giant moths, inspired by the pilot Amy Johnson’s De Havilland Gipsy Moth, has created quite a flutter.
Hundreds of people turned out to watch the fundraising auction get under way at Hull’s Royal Hotel. It raised £85,000.
Many of the moths, which were part of the Amy Johnson festival, were bought by their sponsors including Sheffield University, where Amy graduated in 1925.
Five years later she achieved international fame becoming the first woman to fly solo from Britain to Australia.
The 25 remaining moths, which had been decorating walls in the city and beyond, went under the hammer on Saturday.
One or two made over twice the estimate, including To Build A House, a design by young Indian fashion designer Alka Yadav, which sparked off brisk bidding as two businessmen competed for the piece. The hammer eventually came down for £6,000.
Another of the moths, Flight to Australia, by Elena Naylor, fetched £5,000.
Auctioneer Andrew Baitson said: “People bought them because they are pieces of art, maybe as an investment or to make a statement. There was a huge round of applause as each was sold.”
A keen lepidopterist, de Havilland had remarked that the plane’s wings could be folded back “just like a moth”.
De Havilland Gipsy Moths were so common in the 1920s and 30s that planes, regardless of their make, were referred to as moths.
The £80,000 left after costs will be shared between the HEY Smile Foundation and the Amy Johnson Arts and Engineering Awards.
Festival director Rick Welton said: “A well-known Hull business was obviously so excited by the project they bought three.
“What they are going to do with them we don’t know, but hopefully they will be going up on their buildings.
“Quite a few people said they’d visited all 59 moths and just wanted to be here for the final occasion. We had quite a number of people who were owners of toads (from the previous Larkin with Toads trail seven years ago) and at least two have bought moths, so moths will be joining toads in gardens round Hull and East Yorkshire.”