£600 FOR A SPOON.

Cromwell Argus, Volume L, Issue 2645, 20 October 1919, Page 7

£6OO FOR A SPOON.

“UNDER THE HAMMER’* ROMANCES, Among articles which have come under the hammers of auctioneers - have figured gravestones, stranded whales, hangman’s ropes, relics of criminals, wrecked ships, mummies, and a donkey’s skin in pickle. Some time ago purchasers were bid-, ding keenly for the fittings of Newgate Prison. The door of the condemned cell fetched £l3l ; the steps on which prisoners mounted to the scaffold were snapped up for a paltry 325. ; and the “very cupboard from which Dennis, the hangman in ‘Barnaby Rudge,’ used to fetch the keys," found a purchaser for £l2 10/. Not long ago a lot, consigned to a mart, arrived in London without a label ; it proved to contain a human body, and an inquest was ordered. Inquiries led to the discovery that the corpse was the mummy of an ancient Egyptian queen who probably had beauty and power before Moses was cradled in the bullrushes. A year or so ago a New Zealander walked into an auction room at the very moment when a mummy of a Maori chief who had once dined at his own table was offered for sale. Snowdon, the pride of Wales, has twice been -withdrawn from auction sales for lack of enterprising bidders. Five thousand pounds was paid at Tokenhouse Yard for a sealed envelope which contained a recipe for a pill worth a clear £9OO a year to its lucky purchaser ; a sheet of 119 English stamps of the penny black issue was eagerly fought for and realized £ll2 at a sale some years ago; and a twopenny blue Mauritius stamp found by Mr. Bonar, of Hampstead, in a collection he had made as ? boy, fell to a bid of £1,450. Messrs. Christie have disposed of a Bible for £3,900, a Psalmorum Codas for £4,950, a collection of armour for nearly £12,000, Nelson’s medals and orders for £2,500, 112 gold snuff-’ boxes for £15,250, eight Chippendale chairs for 1,260 guineas, a pearl necklace for £4,100, and a crystal biberon for 15,500 guineas. A silvergilt salt cellar, less than nine ounces In -weight, has realised £3,000 ; and a St. Nicholas spoon has been knocked dow T n at Christie’s for £630. For a vest worn by Charles I. at his execution £2OO was paid, a cracked auk’s egg has brought 280 guineas, a single orchid plant 650 guineas, and a rug bought in Peking for s five-pound note was sold for 9,400.

“Ain’t this a.fine restcront, Bill V* “It certainly is, Maria.” “Bill, ask the band to play a little slower. I can’t eat as fast as they are playing.” 2186,