A rare complete skull of a Triceratops has provided the top lot at Christie's Out of the Ordinary auction in London.
 The £193,875 Triceratops skull top-performed |
The skull, discovered at the Hell Creek Formation in Montana, sold within estimate for £193,875 ($302,445) at the September 5 auction, which also featured a £9,375 ($14,625) single Tyrannosaurs Rex tooth.
The results continue the good form for dinosaur auctions of late, including a set of Tyrannosaurs Rex teeth, which made $86,500 in May.
 Francis Bacon’s eight paintbrushes made £25,000 |
An elephant bird egg also sold well among the collection of unusual objects to cross the block. The pre-17th century item made £67,875 ($105,885), 35.8% above its £50,000 high estimate.
A set of artist Francis Bacon's paintbrushes, estimated at £25,000 ($38,515), sold for £33,750.
Bacon gave the circa 1969 paintbrushes, which had never appeared at auction previously, to fellow artist Clive Barker in 1978.
An ornithopter "flying machine" also put in a strong performance.
The "Waxflatter", which featured in Steven Spielberg's 1985 film Young Sherlock Holmes, sold within estimate for £55,875 ($87,165).
Cygan, an Italian eight foot tall robot produced in 1957, more than doubled its £8,000 high estimate to make £17,500 ($27,300).
 A new commuting option? The ornithopter sold for £55,875 |
Charlotte Young, the head of the sale, commented: "We were pleased to see activity from new buyers as well as known collectors, bringing the sale total to over £1.2 million. It has been a great pleasure to curate a sale with so many unusual and visually striking items. "
You can check out Paul Fraser Collectibles' unique items for sale here.
