Sale:
SE48 (04 Nov 2008)
Auction Lot:
0047
Estimate: £2,000-3,000
Realised: £5,300
Three Sèvres plates and a soup plate with marks for Leve, Commelin and Massey, datecode
for 1788.
Sale:
SE48 (04 Nov 2008)
Auction Lot:
0151
Estimate: £6,000-£8,000
Realised: £15,500
Faberge white guilloche enamelled cane handle, struck with marks for Henrik Wigstrom.
Sale:
SE48 (05 Nov 2008)
Auction Lot:
0410
Estimate: £4,000-£5,000
Realised: £11,500
Ferdinand Preiss (1882-1943) 'Con Brio' an Art Deco cold painted bronze and ivory
figure.
Cleopatra's Needle Comes to Exeter
30th January 2008
A rare archive of Waynman Dixon, one of the people responsible for bringing Cleopatra's
Needle to London will be included in the forthcoming quarterly auction to be held
on 30th January 2008.
Sited on the Thames embankment, Cleopatra's Needle was made in Egypt for the Pharaoh
Thotmes III in 1460 BC, making it some 3,500 years old.
The story of how it was brought to London from Alexandria, the Royal city of Cleopatra
is contained within letters and a photographic album now to be offered for sale.
The idea of bringing the needle to London was as a memorial to Horatio Nelson and
Sir Ralph Abercromby. Professor Erasmus Wilson subscribed some £15,000 to bring
it over from Egypt but only if the scheme succeeded.
The photographic album charts the progress of the needle as it was lowered into
a specially designed 93 foot long cigar shaped container ship with cabin, bilge
keels, bridge and rudder riveted on, which actually floated!
The needle made a steady journey to Britain but on 14th October 1877 disaster struck
in storm force seas in the Bay of Biscay. With the Cleopatra in danger of sinking,
the steam ship towing her, the Olga, sent six volunteers in a boat to take off the
Cleopatra's crew, but the boat was swamped and the volunteers drowned.
Eventually the Olga drew alongside and rescued the Cleopatra's crewmen and skipper
and cut the tow rope, leaving the Cleopatra adrift in the Bay of Biscay.
With the benefit of superb Victorian engineering skills, the vessel of course remained
afloat and was spotted some five days later floating peacefully off the Northern
coast of Spain, although it did cost an additional £8,000 in salvage fees. It was
towed to Falmouth and thence to the Embankment in London.
The archive of letters and photographs is expected to realise between £10,000 and
£20,000.
Social Bookmarks
Please click the following links to flag this article to other people on the Internet.