Calling all war collectors
BOER, ANGLO WAR ITEMS GO UNDER THE HAMMER OVER THE NEXT TWO DAYS More than 1 500 lots of this extensive collection must go – again.
If you are an avid collector of all things from the Boer or Anglo War, you shouldn’t miss this weekend’s two-day auction at Old Johannesburg Warehouse Auctioneers. Tomorrow and Sunday part two of The Ray Leppan collection goes under the hammer. The first part of the auction that took place mid-October, was filled with over 800 fantastic lots that drew bidding from all over the globe.
A few pieces originally from Bermuda are being repatriated back to the original prisoner-of-war island where a small family-run private museum exists.
Record prices were achieved and made bidders near and far bid furiously. A few noteworthy pieces to mention: a rare PoW wood fish-shaped knitting board, sold for R19 975, a PoW woodcutter with sliding lid and documents sold for R35 250, a miniature chess set, 1899, for R37 600 and a special ‘Vierkleur’ sash and badge, carried by president Paul Kruger’s special guard, sold for R44 650.
This has been an auction in the making for months – with many hours dedicated to research, cataloguing and photography it is quite exciting to see it come to fruition. Ray Leppan, a known name in the PoW and ABO collector’s fields, travelled all over the globe to put his collection together over many years.
The collection is so extensive that it had to be split over two separate months to do justice to it. Representing both the Anglo and the Boer sides almost equally, this auction will offer an exciting array of memorabilia to collectors, institutions and dealers alike.
On offer? Medals and medallions, documents and maps, coins, stamps and notes, Prisoner of War items (including pieces from Bermuda, Ceylon and St Helena), ephemera, (trench) art, weapons, silverware, jewellery and some pieces of furniture. With over 1 500 lots over the two days, there’s too much to mention, so make sure to not miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime auction sale.