Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers Out Of The Ordinary
Tuesday 15 & Wednesday 16 February
Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex CM24 8GE
www.sworder.co.uk

STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET, UNITED KINGDOM — Sworders Auctioneers is bringing back its popular “Out of the Ordinary” Auction, now in its fifth year. In two sessions, February 15 and 16, the firm will offer 633 lots from the mysterious to the macabre with the unusual and unique in between.
Of particular note is an American “Rockaway Marlin” fighting chair with a chromed and steel base and supports, teak seat, armrest and footrest and white upholstery. The 39-inch-tall chair is modeled after the seat illustrated onboard the Orca in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 film Jaws and carries an estimate of $1,3/1,600.

Numerous skeletal lots are featured, perhaps none more singular than a set of femur and phalanx bones from a Dodo bird, which were discovered by schoolmaster George Clarke in 1885 during the investigation of the Mare aux Songes swamp in Mauritius. The dodo was related to the pigeon family; with no natural predators, they became flightless, and adapted to happily living life on the ground until the Dutch colonized Mauritius in 1638, at which point they became hunted for sport. With the colonization came new species to the island, such as rats, dogs, cats and pigs, which all contributed to the extinction of the flightless dodo after the 1680s. The bones carry an estimate of $4/5,300.

North American bidders may have interest in an 11-inch-long Haida carved argillite pipe that dates to the early Nineteenth Century. Resembling the totem poles raised within the Haida society, the pipes were predominantly carved as souvenirs, sold to sailors and whalers who visited the region during the Nineteenth Century. The motifs are drawn from traditional Haida iconography, with totems depicting various animals and warriors. Smoking was conventional in Haida society prior to the arrival of European settlers, however, the view on smoking was changed with the introduction of guns and firearms. Some of the earliest Haida pipes encountered are out of old gunstocks of defeated settlers, as it was believed that the power exerted by them could be harnessed through this conversion. It is estimated at $650-$1,050.

Prices quoted have been converted from GB Pounds to US Dollars based on the conversion rate at press time and may differ on the date of the sale.
For additional information, www.sworder.co.uk.

markwilkinson@sworder.co.uk
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