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Shell collecting became fashionable during the 17th and 18th centuries and paralleled the growth of the major empires in Europe. European explorers brought back a tremendous amount of natural objects from the early sea voyages. Royalty in Holland, France and England assembled many large collections of rare and unusual shells.
Such prominent figures as Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753) and James Petiver (1658-1718) amassed major collections, which formed the nucleus of the British Museum’s famous display. Sir Joseph Banks, who once served with Captain J. Cook on many sea voyages, collected rare and exotic shells. Many of the early collections were dispersed under the hammer at auction. Today, in the United States, some of the choicest examples in private collections date back to these early accumulations.
The first auctions were held in Holland during the early 1700’s. Commodore Lisle’s collection was featured in one of the first shell auctions conducted in England. The auction took place on February 21, 1753 at Longford’s in London. According to an article in a 1958 American Shell Auction Catalog, “A precious wentletrap brought $115.00 at the Commodore Lisle auction in 1753 that would fetch at least $500. today.”
Yes, a single shell in 1753 brought $115.00. But that was not the record. In 1766 during a 39 day auction a “Portland Vase, the piece de resistance” sold for $5,145. This prize shell came from the collection of Margaret Cavendish, Dutchess of Portland (1714-1785). Her fantastic collection boasted many novelties and rarities brought home by Admirals Byron (grandfather of the poet), Wallace C. Cook and Joseph Banks. Her outstanding collection boasted over 4,000 separate lots. The auction started on April 24, 1766 and lasted 39 days.
Can you imagine being the auctioneer of a 39 day auction? Perhaps the auctioneer in his enthusiastic opening remarks one day said “Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, please take your seats it is time to start the 23rd day of the Cavendish Auction with lot 2,124, another rare and unusual … shell.”
Did I mention that this 4,000+ lot auction was cataloged? That’s right, the cataloger was also a serious shell collector by the name of George Humphrey (1745-1830). Mr. Humphrey also established himself among the astute collectors as an enterprising and scholarly dealer. According to R. Tucker Abbott of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia in 1958, “Mr. Humphrey had his finger in every conchological pie of any importance for the best part of half a century.” He was a major buyer at a fantastic shell auction that took place April 9-11th, 1777 at Mr. Willoughby’s Great Room, opposite Slaughter’s Coffee-house in London. By the way, Mr. Humphrey, the cataloger of the Cavendish Collection was also a major bidder in the same auction.
Another serious bidder in the Cavendish auction who purchased numerous shells over the 39 days was the Prince of Calonne, who was actually an agent for the French Minister of State. Within eleven years of the Cavendish auction all of the Prince’s purchases along with the rest of his collection was sent over to England to by auctioned by none other then George Humphrey in 1797.
One collector, Sir Ashton Lever (1739-1788), added a new twist to the liquidation of a collection. He offered his fantastic collection in a lottery. The collection was won by James Parkison in 1784. Parkinson put the collection up for auction. Most of the lots sold at auction went to George Humphrey.
A number of famous collections went on the auction block during the early 19th century. One collection, the Angus accumulation, rich in Australian material, took eight days to sell in May of 1821. The following year, 1822, Dubois of Covent Garden, London, auctioned the collection of the widow of Captain Bligh of Mutiny of the Bounty fame over a three day period.
Prices of shells often brought hundreds of dollars each. In 1825 a Conus gloriamaris fetched $525. and an Aulica aulica sold for $210. both were from the Earl of Tankerville’s collection cataloged by G.B. Sowerby and sold in London.
The Stevens’ Auction Rooms located at Covent Garden London began specializing in shell auctions about 1840. Sowerby and Fulton were the chief catalogers who sold over 75 collections. Stevens conducted the shell auctions for approximately 90 years. The last 12 auctions they cataloged occurred between 1926 and 1937.
Much of what was auctioned after 1880 came to American collectors. The collections of Weeks, Higgins, W.F. Webb and A.F. Gray were dispersed to Americans with much eventually going to the Harvard Museum.
Shell clubs in America have supplemented their treasuries with shell auction events. A true revival of large shell auctions in catalog format did not occur in the United States until 1956 when Elizabeth M. Wistar’s auctions began at Buttonwood Farm, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PA.
I have in my collection a couple of original catalogs from the Buttonwood Farm dating from 1957 and 1958. Both descriptive, illustrated, black and white catalogs offered collections of shells ready for the auction block. One catalog is dated September 13, 1958 depicting a Shell Auction of “Marine and Land Shells”. It is 52 pages and offers 18 private collections in 141 lots. The early catalog from September 14, 1957 was also 52 pages offering 13 collections.
Both auctions started on a Saturday morning at 10:45AM and closed at 5PM. There was a one hour intermission from 12:30-1:30 for a picnic lunch and a “brief respite from 3 to 3:30PM.” Preview for the auctions was on Friday from 2PM until 5:30PM.
The catalogs are fabulous. Descriptions are detailed. Keep in mind that shell collecting has nothing to do with finding shells that have washed up onto the beach. Examples were to be taken alive. I will share with you one description so that you can appreciate the work and expertise necessary for cataloging.
Lot #26 Cypraea fultoni S’by. 2 5/8”. This was taken from the fish commonly called “musselcracker”. The shell, by the greatest of luck, was extracted just after the fish swallowed it, with mollusk still alive in the shell. The specimen is a beauty, and not to go overboard about it, I quote the contributor as saying, “It is so exquisite and perfect, it brings tears to ones eyes.” Opening bid on this specimen will be $120.00. A word about the musselcracker for the benefit of those who did not see our 1956 catalogue. It is brought up in a comparatively small area off Durban, South Africa. It has a brief run of a few weeks and is caught only by hand line. A sporty fish, with massive jaws. One occasionally has thegood fortune to acquire a rarity from this fish, but to obtain a shell without tooth indentations and of splendid color, and with mollusk intact, seems to indicate the fish’s stomach was opened and the shell extracted very promptly after swallowing. Needless to state, rare!” It sold for $285.00 in 1957. (By the way as of this writing, 8/8/02 the bidding is open on EBAY for the same specie – also caught alive and offered by a private collector. The bidding is at $700. it will close in 3 days. Further, EBAY has a Cypraea fultoni amorimi f. impossibilis offered from Mongolia, caught alive, with a starting bid of $10,000. The bidding remains open for one day; so far there are no bids.)
These descriptive catalogs are very informative. I find it fascinating that in the 18th century there were catalogs featuring 4,000+ descriptive lots that took 39 days to sell at auction. But then I was shocked to learn from a 1950’s advertisement that a much larger offering was put on the block.
The collection was that of William H. Weeks. His shell collection of “Marine, land and fresh-water shells of all kinds, approximately 5,000,000 shells comprising the complete collection (Oh, only 5 million shells, what a disappointment!) was sold at auction. Here’s the kicker – “To obtain free lists containing full scientific data on all species offered for sale, send name and address to: George Jacobs Riverside Dr. New York, NY.” Even Humphrey would have crawled from that unbelievable cataloging nightmare. Again, a free catalog with scientific data on 5,000,000 shells.
So what’s happening with shell collecting in the 21st Century? First, the collecting category appears to be active with some strong prices. The Internet has revolutionized worldwide communication between collectors and dealers. In a two minute search of EBAY’s open and closed auctions revealed over 5,000 lots of shells. A search on GOOGLE’s search engine for (“shell auctions”) brought up 180 entries.
If money were no object, I suspect that today’s collector could assemble a major collection at auction faster then Humphrey could complete his 4,000 lot catalog in 1766. However, I wonder how many species in the 4,000 lot catalog of the 18th century would be available at any price today?
Captions to Images
1. Two catalogs 1957 & 1958 for Shell Auctions
2. (Man holding fish) The best shell specimens come right from the fishes mouth.
3. Typical Shell Auction Preview
I thought that the following poem might make for a nice addition in a box to accompany the article.
“The river is within us, the sea is all about us;
The sea is the land’s edge also, the granite
Into which it reaches, the beaches where it tosses
Its hint of earlier and other creation;
The starfish, the hermit crab, the whale’s backbone;
The pools where it offers to our curiosity
The more delicate algae and the sea anemone.
It tosses up our losses, the torn seine
The shattered lobster pot, the broken oar
And the gear of foreign dead men.
The sea has many voices, Many gods and many voices.”
T.S. Eliot
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