22 July 2019
|
French pig toy
Bringing home the bacon
A good selection of diecast toys along with various railway items, aviation collectables, figures and other ephemera all featured at the latest Wallis and Wallis sale. Strangest lot of the auction had to be the Roullet et DeCamps French clockwork automaton pig, which was made out of chamois and leather and was fitted with glass eyes – and a clockwork motor. When wound up, the creature’s head moved from side to side and the porcine made a grunting noise. He was minus his ears and one trotter but nonetheless this oddity endeared itself to the audience, and he found a new sty for £130.
A number of Husky Toys were entered in this sale although most were not on their blistered cards. There were just four exceptions, however, which comprised a single lot: the No 2 Citroen Safari with plastic boat, the No 12 VW Tower Wagon, the No 32 Luggage Elevator and the No 36 Simon Snorkel fire engine were all about as good as you’ll find six decades on, and were bid to £100. A little more (£130) was enough to secure a Dinky Messerschmitt Bf 109 E on its original blistered box: is interest growing in Dinky aircraft? Another collectable Dinky model was that of the 25d Petrol Tanker in orange and black with a tinplate grille: the PETROL lettering was still intact and this little beauty sold for a modest £55.
A surprise lot of the day was arguably the £1,400 bid on the Hornby O gauge three rail 20V LMS Princess Royal Class 4-6-2 tender locomotive. Finished in maroon livery and contained in a blue box, the combination easily surpassed its upper estimate of £1,000.