Wednesday 26 March 2025

Lot 1

A pair of silver mounted 'Dragon of Wantley' table lighters.  Walker & Hall,  Sheffield, 1932. 

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Lot 1

A pair of silver mounted 'Dragon of Wantley' table lighters. 
Walker & Hall, 
Sheffield, 1932. 

Price Realised: £7,216

Estimate: £2,000 - £4,000

Price realised is hammer price plus fees (31.2% Buyers Premium inclusive of VAT).

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Lot 1

Description

A pair of silver mounted 'Dragon of Wantley' table lighters. 

Walker & Hall, 

Sheffield, 1932. 

Realistically modelled as dragons with twisted antelope horn bodies, each embossed to the chest with the words 'Ye Dragon of Wantley' and designed with wicks protruding from mouths and snuffers on chains, an arrow form lighting rod to the chest of one dragon, approx. 53.2cm long, 15cm high (2)

Note: Please note that this lot is subject to CITES regulations (Appendix III). Please check your country's import regulations before bidding. It is the buyer's responsibility to obtain any relevant export licences.

 

The Dragon of Wantley is a legend about a huge and terrible bat-winged dragon that was said to inhabit Wharncliffe Crags, near Sheffield in South Yorkshire. The legend was recounted in a comic ballad in 1685 and later made into an opera by Henry Carey in 1787. It tells the story of a dragon which terrorised villages, devouring trees, buildings and people before being slayed by a comic, inebriated knight in a bespoke suit of Sheffield armour. The knight, More of More Hall, kills the dragon by delivering a kick up its ‘arse gut’; the only vulnerable spot on its scaly body.

Some consider the ballad to be nothing more than a flippant twist on the standard ‘George & the Dragon’ tale, intended to satirise medieval romance. However, the South Yorkshire historian, David Hey has argued that the ballad probably had its origins in the 1590s, in litigation between local people and their landlord Sir Richard Wortley. The litigation concerned tithes and enclosures –common sources of conflict in Elizabethan times – and he believed Sir Richard Wortley (d.1603) to be the prototype for the allegorical dragon. In real life, he argued, it was deer, rather than dragons, which ‘ate up men’.

These table lighters are thought to have military associations (each dragon rests a front foot on a grenade) and may have been used in officers’ mess halls.

Buyer's Premium

The buyer shall pay the hammer price together with a premium thereon of 26% up to £20,000 (31.2% inclusive of VAT), 25% from £20,001 - £500,000 (30% inclusive of VAT), 20% from £500,001 thereafter (24% inclusive of VAT). The premium price is subject to VAT at the standard rate.

VAT
VAT is not charged on the hammer price unless it is stated that there is 'VAT applicable on the hammer price at the end of the description. Buyer's premium is subject to VAT.
(ARR) - ARTIST'S RESALE RIGHT

Qualifying living artists and the descendants of artists deceased within the last 70 years are entitled to receive a re-sale royalty each time their work is bought through an auction house or art market professional.

It applies to lots with hammer value over £1,000 as follows:
0 to £50,000 - 4%
£50,000.01 to £200,000 - 3%
£200,000.01 to £350,000 - 1%
£350,000.01 to £500,000 - 0.5%
Exceeding £500,000 - 0.25%
ARR is capped at £12,500

Please note ARR is calculated in euros. Auctioneers will apply current exchange rates.

Export of goods

Buyers intending to export goods should ascertain whether an export licence is required before bidding. Export licences are issued by Arts Council England and application forms can be obtained from its Export Licensing Unit. Details can be found on the ACE website www.artscouncil.org.uk or by phoning ACE on 020 7973 5188. The need for import licences varies from country to country and you should acquaint yourself with all relevant local requirements and provisions before bidding. The refusal of any such licences shall not permit the cancelling of any sale nor allow any delay in making full payment for the lot.

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