Crowland auction centre to sell huge horse brass collection

An enormous collection of rare horse brasses has filled a Crowland auction house - and it will go on sale next month.

From Victorian gems to ceramic specials, these intriguing sought after items will take the spotlight when they go under the hammer on May 13 at Harrisons Auction Centre.

Auctioneer Jeremy Culpin says he’s never seen anything like this collection before, which is made up of thousands of horse brasses.

“It’s a fantastic collection,” he said.

“They’ve come in from the widow of a collector in Norfolk and they’ve been collected over about 40 years.

“There’s literally thousands of them - they’ve filled the room where we keep our items

“This is very exciting for us.”

Harrisons run auctions, both general and more specialist antique sales, throughout each month but due to the number of horse brasses, there will be a special afternoon slot dedicated to them.

The auction on Saturday, May 13 will run with its usual general sale items in the morning before swapping to the brasses at 12pm.

Jeremy is currently painstakingly going through the collection to create lots ready for the auction.

“We’ve got some really rare and unusual ones,” Jeremy explained.

“We also have some horse collars which shire horses would have worn, with brass work and studs on them.

“There’s some which are made of op with ceramic middles and a strap with royal brasses on them from Queen Victoria’s reign.

“The more rare items might sell for about £100 to £150, and there’s special engraved Scottish brasses which people go looking for, so they should do well too.

“We also have some with moons and stars on them which would have been made by gypsies as the horses were outside so they wanted something related to the moon.

“But, there’s something for everyone as we have some which are more like the ones you’d find on a pub wall, which would reach around £10 to £15. The variety is amazing.”

Jeremy, who has been working as an auctioneer since lockdown, has a strong background in antiques.

He worked as an antiques dealer from about the age of 18 before the pandemic forced him to try a new role.

“I really enjoy it,” he added.

For more information, visit www.harrisonsauctions.co.uk