Prison Ship Captain's Cabinet of Curiosities Fetches £35,000
16/12/2024 Latest News
In Early November, auctioneer Felix Turner visited a property in South West London, to view the contents of a small house clearance. The seller had sent through photographs by email of an antique collectors cabinet, with intruiging lion paw feet and gilt metal mounts. Felix said 'I had no idea what was in the cabinet, but it looked to date from the early 19th Century. Resting on top of the cabinet, I could see glass bottles filled with shells, and hand written paper labels. It looked like it might house a Grand Tour collection'.
Upon arrival at the house, Felix and the seller opened the cabinet and discovered a fascinating collection. Items included meteorite samples from New Zealand, a piece of Porphyry taken from the Ruin of the Flavian Amphitheatre at Rome, and 19th Century ornaments worn by the Natives of Murray's Island. Every compartment and drawer was filled with the most fantastic array of curiosities, many accompanied with hand written paper labels. Felix agreed to take the cabinet back to Wimbledon Auctions HQ, where the contents would be removed, researched and divided into individual lots ready for auction. Once the cabinet was back at Wimbledon Auctions, further discoveries included a lock of hair reputed to belong to Lord Nelson, along with a plank of wood on which he reputedly fell during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Various antique tribal fish hooks were discovered, along with a very rare carved shell in the form of a fish.
While leaving the property in South West London, a collection of scrap books were also discovered in a banana box. The scrap books included various 19th Century drawings and watercolours, a few of which were removed and sold seperately, including a painting by renowned Canadian artist Cornelius Kreighkoff (1815-1872), a watercolour by George Russell Dartnell depicting the View from the Wharf at Quebec, with Icebergs floating out of the St Charles River on the opening of the Spring in 1839.
Attention turned to who might have originally amassed such an extraordinary collection of artefacts. Family repute was that the cabinet had been passed down the generations, and had resided for the past decades in the possession of the vendors father, who had taken good care and kept the collection intact within the cabinet. A little detective work found that a few of the many handwritten ink paper labels were signed 'J.Muddle' and dated to the 1830's. Online research revealed that the original collector was Captain James Muddle (British 1785-1865). James Muddle was born at Gillingham in Kent on 31 January 1785. James probably went to sea at a fairly young age and worked his way up to become a master mariner. The first record of him at sea, at the age of 25, is as the master of the small single mast sloop Boston sailing in coastal waters. In 1814, James then became master of the 356-ton ship ‘Leng’, armed with six 6-pounder guns, bound for the West Indies. The Lloyd's Register for 1820 also recorded that during that year James took over from as master of the 410 ton convict ship Lord Sidmouth. By the age of 35, James had progressed from being master of ships sailing in coastal waters to sailing to the Mediterranean and across the Atlantic, and now to the other side of the World. In 1820 it was reported that the Lord Sidmouth captain Muddle had sailed from Portsmouth on for New South Wales. After a voyage of 107 days, they arrived at Sydney in Australia on 19 February 1821, where 160 male prisoners were disembarked. James and the Lord Sidmouth also sailed to Jakarta, Calcutta, Mauritius. Upon arriving back to England in 1821, James became captain of the prison ship the ‘Andromeda’, which sailed from Leith to to Van Diemans Land and New South Wales. During the following two decades of travels in and around Australia, James will have collected many of the items in the collection. James is also known to have been captain of the ship ‘Lang’, as well as the “Mandarin’, ‘Glenbervie’ and the ‘Roseanne’. He sailed on prison ships to New Zealand and even China. James died in 1865 at the age of 80.
Captain Muddle's collection went to auction with a pre-sale estimate of just under £6,000. Once the catalogue went live online via Wimbledon Auctions website and online bidding platforms such as www.thesaleroom.com, www.easyliveauction.com and www.drouot.com the interest from prospective buyers was astounding. Telephone lines were booked for many of the tribal objects, such as a 19th Century tortoiseshell fishook and shell necklaces worn by the natives of Murray's Island, a small Island of volcanic origin, populated by the Melanesian People and situated in the Eastern section of the Torres Straight with a population of around 450 people. Fierce bidding on the day led to the vast majority of items in the collection flying over their top estimates, with the whole lot fetching a premium inclusive total of £35,000. Many of the items were sold to prominent private collectors in Europe and Australia.
Auctioneer Felix remarked 'This collection was an auctioneers dream. Fascinating social history, exceptionally rare items and a great sale total raised for the vendor. It goes to show the importance of research and due dilligence. Had we sold the cabinet togther with its contents in one lot, it might have fetched a few thousand pounds. By dividing the cabinet contents into over fifty small lots, the items then apealled to hundreds of private collectors and dealers worldwide, with diverse interests. Low estimates attracted bidders and led to very strong prices'.
Highlights include
1. A tortoiseshell fishhook, Murray’s Island. Sold for £3,860.
9. A 19th Century scrapbook. Sold for £1,545
To view the highlights, please follow the link below.
https://www.wimbledonauctions.co.uk/auction/search/?st=muddle&c=1
This collection featured in the Antiques Trade Gazette, edition 2677, 25th January. To read the article, please follow the link below: