Wyres Freres Display Cases Paris Shop
At Christie’s auction house in South Kensington, we finally saw the El Helou collection of fishing tackle and related items. I had heard various stories concerning the collection, particularly the display cases from the Wyers Freres Paris retail shop.
Photograph of the Interior of the Paris Shop Showing the Display Cases Insitu.
Many people were getting excited about owning one of the display cases from the Wyres Freres Paris Showroom.
Included in the people who thought about owning one was me. The catalogue arrived, and I realised that I would not get one of the displays of lures, but the floats were within my grasp. I then set about raising some money by disposing of items I no longer needed. I needed a float display case. I looked at the estimates, and honestly, I knew they were on the low side.
Having had the bypass operation a week before viewing, my son drove me down to view the sale on a Sunday. I took a good look at each of the panels, and I realised that the £5,500 I had managed to accumulate might not be enough.
Sale day, and I had managed to buy one lot before the first panel came up.
Lot 361 is a framed display of tackle, including shot boxes, bait boxes, clearing rings, bait needles and pliers. There was a fabulous small tin with an angling scene on it. I did not know what some items were for, and I would need a catalogue to identify them. Some were stamped Allcock & Co., with others Warner. Estimated at £1,500-2,000, it sold for £3,450 to a gentleman at the front of the room.
Lot 361 A Framed Display of Tackle Items including shot boxes, bait boxes,, clearing rings bait needles and pliers. Sold for £3,450.
Lot 362 A Framed Display of Tackle floats including porcupine, goose, wood and other materials. Sold for £4,600.
Lot 362 displayed quill floats made from porcupine, goose, wood and other materials. They had painted tops with whipped banding, and although it looked nice, it was not the one I wanted. Estimated at £1,800-2,200, it sold for £4,600 to the same gentleman at the front of the room.
Lot 363 display case of lead weights including some patented ones. Sold for £2,875.
Lot 364, a display of wooden needles for net making together with four shot containers, estimated at £1,500-2,000, was sold to the gentleman at the front of the room for £2,070.
The auctioneer showed a lack of knowledge of fishing tackle when they put the estimate for the needles above the weights.
It also manifested in the next lot that was so highly rated that it warranted a full-page display.
Lot 365 was a collection of Shrimpton needles used for net making. It was just a display of needles arranged to look like a flower. Estimated at £1,500-2,000, it sold for £1,495.
LOT 365 Display of Shrimpton Needles, some stamped E McShrimpston, some A Shrimpston. This was the largest display in the original shop in Paris, clearly visible in the black & white photograph. Sold for £1,495.
The next lot was where my interest started.
Lot 366 was a display of floats, the majority being similar to the Fishing Gazette floats. These differed because they had coat-of-arms and royal insignia painted on them. A particularly nice one was the one with the Imperial Russian eagle painted on it. I never had a bid. Estimated at £1,500-2,000, it sold for £6,900 to the gentleman in the front row. I feel that this caused a bit of panic in some of the hopeful bidders in the room, and people wanted to know who the gentleman in the front row was.
Lot 366 Display of decorative floats as clearly seen in the black and white original photograph Sold for £6,900.
Lot 367 Display of decorative floats on line winders. Sold for £4600.
Lot 367 is another display of floats, this one online winder with different lines. Estimated at £1,800-2,500, it sold to the same gentleman for £4,600.Lot 368 was the first of the displays of lures. With the high prices achieved with baits at nearly every sale, much was expected. This case consisted of a gilt medal at the centre, and despite a bit of digging, I could not find anything about the medal. Surrounding this were various blind hooks shaped in a diamond pattern, and outside of these were 27 baits.
Before this sale, I had only seen one example of Horwood patent bait that Fosters of Ashbourne sold. In this case, it was a complete set of six. On the opposite side of the case, there were six William Bartleet Patent Serpentanic baits in gold gilt.
To each side of the medal were another five Serpentanic bait. In the bottom of the case were five Archer bait mounts with five quill minnows on the other. After some brisk bidding, it went to the same gentleman for £6,900. Not to worry, let the guy use his money upon the lesser baits.
Lot 368 Display of Baits including set of six Horwood patent bait. The gilt medal in the centre was for the 1851 Great Exhibition. Sold for £6,900.
Lot 369 Display of Baits with medal for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at the centre. This medal is the revers of the one in lot 368 for the Great Exhibition. Sold for £6,900.
Lot 369 was another similar display, this time with a medal depicting Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the centre and the same display of hooks. This time, the lures were William Bartlett Serpentanic but in silver with Clipper baits opposite. These differed from the normal Clipper in that they had a side-mounted hook, and the body had a French weave metal body.
More spirited bidding and the same gentleman acquires this lot for £6,900 against an estimate of £2,000-3,000
Lot 370 Display of Baits with taxidermied trout as the centre piece. Sold for £29,900.
Lot 371 Display of artificial flies and insects with taxidermied fish as the centre piece. Sold for £18,400.
Lot 370 was the most important collection of baits ever seen at auction, with at least four people willing to spend thousands of pounds to own it. The problem was that they did not know how far each was prepared to go.
There were 49 baits with a stuffed trout in the centre. Some glass baits were superb, with one fine example with dark red glass.
The bidding started, and the hammer finally fell, with the lot selling for £29,900. The various collectors and dealers assembled gave great cheer in the room. Why? Because Ian Mackenzie had managed to beat off the intruder who had mopped everything up at that point.
The estimate on the lot was £2,000-3,000, slightly wrong.
Lot 372 Display of baits, artificial insects and lures with a frog bait as the centre piece. Sold for £23,000.
Lot 373 Display of baits, artificial insects, flies and lures with two Maybug’s. Sold for £9,200.
Lot 371 was another case of baits surrounding a stuffed fish. This time they were various insects and frogs with a few lures thrown in for good measure.
Estimated at £2,000-3,000, it also went to the gentleman in the front row for £18,400. Not to worry, there are still a few more displays left to have a go at.
Lot 374 a display of dead bait mounts with some Aero type flies with an Ajax braided line Wyres Freres Paris in the centre. Sold for £7,475.
Lot 375 a display of spoons and spinners with an Invincible Ajax braided line Wyres Freres Paris in the centre. Sold for £4,600.
Lot 372 is another case of lures and, in my opinion, the best representative example. It consisted of various insects with a beautiful frog in the centre and four superb Gregory lures on the four points.
In the top left corner four glass baits, four slotted Devon’s on the top right. The bottom left is four sole skin minnows and four Geens Patent spiral minnows. This case, estimated at £1,800-2,500, sold for £23,000 to the gentleman in the front.
Lot 373 was another exemplary case with the outstanding items of the two Maybugs. It was estimated at £1,800-2,500. Again it went to the same buyer for £9,200.
Lot 376 a display of gut eyed flies of various styles and sizes with a huge pike fly in the centre. Sold for £5,750.
The next lot, 374, consisted mainly of dead bait mounts with some Aero-type flies. Estimated at £2,000-3,000, it sold for £7,475.
Lot 375 displayed mainly spoons and spinners that sold for £4,600 against an estimate of £2,000-3,000.
Lot 376 consisted of Salmon and Trout flies with a massive fly in the centre. Estimated at £1,800-2,500, it went for £5,750.
The last two cases were similar: they consisted of flies lures and baits with painted pictures of various fish.
The first lot, 377, sold for £9,200 against an estimate of £2,000-3,000. With the second going for £11,500 with the same estimate.
Lot 377 a display of gut eyed flies, baits and spinners in the form of in worms and minnows with two oval prints of a Roach and Carp Sold for £9,200.
Lot 378 a display of gut eyed flies, baits and spinners in the form of in worms and minnows with two oval prints of Salmon Parr with smolt and a Grilse Sold for £11,500.
The unknown bidder ends up owning all of the cases except one.
The story is that he was walking along in New York, saw that the items were for sale in London, and decided to have them for his office. He flew over and spent £134,000 on a few bits to hang in his office!
Indeed, for Miss Helou, it was a sale she could only have dreamt about. It must have been a bit of a blow for Neil Freeman, and for many British collectors, it was a disaster.
This sale took place on Wednesday 19th May 1999.