Preview: Militaria & Ethnographica Sale - 18th September

An interesting collection of items relating to Colonel Alwyn de Blaquiere Valentine Paget, one of the Gentleman at Arms (bodyguard) to King Edward VII, will be coming up for auction in the Militaria and Ethnographica Sale on 18^th September at Tennants Auctioneers (estimate: £3,000-5,000 all figures exclude buyer’s premium). Paget (1855-1931) was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Durham Light Infantry, and great nephew of Henry William Paget, first Marquess of Anglesey. He was amongst the Gentlemen at Arms who kept vigil by the late king’s coffin during the lying-in-state at Westminster Hall in 1910. The collection comprises a good George V Gentleman at Arms Helmet, his 1887 Pattern Heavy Cavalry Officer’s Sword by Henry Wilkinson, an oil portrait of Paget by John Mansfield Crealock, an Engraved Portrait of King Edward VII given in remembrance of his vigil at the lying-in-state signed by King George V, and an accompanying letter and photograph of the occasion.

Also of note amongst the Militaria lots in the sale is a Second World War RAF Sector Clock, used in operations rooms to aid track and intercept enemy aircraft over Britain (estimate: £2,000-3,000), and two collections of badges, buttons and insignia, including a Victorian Yeomanry Officer’s Silver Crossbelt Pouch (estimate: £250-300).

One of the most curious lots in the sale is a Late 18^th/Early 19^th Century Indo-Persian Pesh Kabz, with single-edged curved steel blade (estimate: £600-800). Whilst the blade itself is not so unusual, it had been found hidden in a sarcophagus-type container set into the eaves of a 19^th century crofter’s cottage in Sullom, a tiny settlement in the Shetland Islands. Quite how it got to be hidden there will remain a mystery.

A good offering of Ethnographica in the sale is lead by a 19^th Century Australian Aboriginal Parrying Shield, from the Lower Murray River Region. Estimated at £1,200-1,800, it has a deep chestnut colour patina and stone-chiselled decoration. Other notable Aboriginal lots include a 19^th Century Australian Aboriginal Waddy (club or hunting stick) (estimate; £300-500), a 19^th Century Australian Aboriginal War Club (estimate: £250-300), and a Mid-20^th Century Australian Aboriginal ‘Pukamani’ Ceremonial Bark Panel, painted by Mira-lei (Long Peter, born 1900) of the Tiwi Tribe (estimate: £100-150). The Tiwi Islands lie off the northern coast of Australia, close to Darwin, and the islanders had a ceremony called the Pukamani, which was performed after the death of a tribesman. Poles were given as gifts to please the spirits of the dead. Hailing from Fiji and incised with three ‘kill cuts’ is a good Early 19^th Century Large Fijian Kiakavo or gunstock war club (estimate: £450-500).