The fate of a zebra’s bottom, sold last year by Cotswold antique and fine art auctioneers Moore Allen & Innocent, has been revealed on the television show Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.
The show, which pits two antiques experts against each other as they attempt to make the most profit from items bought at auction, featured Philip Serrell and a heavily pregnant Christina Trevanion bidding at Moore Allen & Innocent in Cirencester back in March last year.
Phil, a familiar face as the star of Flog It! and Bargain Hunt went into the auction promising to go ‘off piste’. “I’m looking for something daft and wacky,” he told viewers during the show, which was screened on Thursday (June 6).
And he found what he was looking for in a papier mâché sculpture of a zebra’s head, and an accompanying sculpture of the zebra’s bottom, by the anarchic artist David Farrer.
Both were mounted on wooden shields like hunting trophies, and decorated with newsprint to form the stripes.
“How daft can you get?” asked Phil, who paid £283.20 for the pair of sculptures, while musing “I think I’m losing my marbles.” But he managed to sell his purchase to art gallery for £500, a profit of £216.80.
Phil also picked up a unique piece of sporting memorabilia in the shape of a framed hand-written crib sheet, signed by the commentator Bill McLaren CBE, renowned as ‘the voice of rugby’.
The crib sheet – which would really only make sense to the commentator himself – was covered in stats about players from England and the post-apartheid South Africa squad, who met at Twickenham in November 1992.
It contained phrases like: “This is the first time the Springboks have played England at Twickenham since December 1969, when England won 11-8”, and “South Africa will be pinning their faith in a side who beat the England B team 16-10 last Saturday.”
After paying £47.20 for the crib sheet, Phil admitted he didn’t want to part with it. But he doubled his money when he sold it to match veteran Mike Teague – who now owns and runs The White Hart pub opposite Gloucester’s Kingsholm Stadium – for £100.
Meanwhile Christina, a first-timer on the show but, like Phil, a veteran of Flog It! and Bargain Hunt, bought a 1934 painting of Pump Pail in Croydon – where she grew up – for £70.80 before selling it to an art collector and history buff in the town for £150.
A 1930s silk and lace wedding dress, with a pair of bridesmaid dresses, was sold to a vintage clothes trader in Camden for £100 – a profit of £46.90 – while a set of fishing tins and flies, for which she paid £129.80, were sold to an angler for £150 and a quick fishing lesson.
The show also featured star turns on the rostrum for auctioneers Philip Allwood, Lucy Allwood and David Greatwood.
“It was an enjoyable day of filming,” said Philip. “They were a great bunch, and the exposure on national television is good for us.”
For more information about buying and selling antiques at auction, log on to www.mooreallen.co.uk