A 30lb Pike mounted in a gilt lined bow front case over an undulating lake bed setting image 1

Lot 300

A 30lb Pike mounted in a gilt lined bow front case over an undulating lake bed setting

The Henley Sale

21 July 2007, 10:00 BST

Henley on Thames

Sold for £5,400 inc. premium

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A 30lb Pike mounted in a gilt lined bow front case over an undulating lake bed setting

with firs and grasses against a graduated green backboard and ceiling. The gold coloured legend reads: Pike 30lbs caught by D. Tate on Hickling Broad Norfolk on live bait 14th October 1956. Case 132 cm wide x 42.5 cm high x 23cm deep. Accompanying the case is the original invoice and statement from John Cooper & Sons (Proprietor L. F. Griggs) to Mr. Tate showing: To Preserving & Mounting Pike 30lbs in bent glass case £23/0/0 and Paid account (the statement) £5/0/0. The statement dated 1956 and the invoice 1958. Also included is an image of Mr. Tate with his pike and newspaper cuttings, together with an Apollo The Moray three piece tubular steel rod 10ft 6in with agate lined rings throughout, claret whippings, alloy sliding reel fittings alloy butt cap inscribed R12413 in maker’s brown cloth bag and a J. W. Young Seldex centre pin reel 3¾in with chromed foot, twin black handles and two screw latch, the back plate with optional check, this rod and reel caught the 30lb pike

Footnotes

This important case is believed to be the last 30lb Pike preserved by J. Cooper & Sons before they closed in the early 1960’s. Initially the captor was turned away, despite having his 22lb Pike mounted by Cooper’s only three years previously, because the business was struggling to keep up with their work. However after enquiring about the weight of the Pike and learning it was of the magical 30lbs, Mr. L. F. Griggs agreed to mount it. It took fifteen months for the fish to be completed and was collected on January 8th 1958. The taxidermist was unable to offer the gilt lettering service to the vendor, the skilled gentleman having past away, so the angler had it added by a friend.

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A 30lb Pike mounted in a gilt lined bow front case over an undulating lake bed setting

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