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THE MAGAZINE AUCTION RESULTS
€73,000
Rifles and shotguns by Holland & Holland grabbed the
limelight on 17 February at Louviers (Jean-Emmanuel
Prunier auction house). This pair of shotguns, estimated
at around €20,000, attracted the keen attention
of numerous European hunters. Offered in good condition,
they illustrated all the expertise of the worldfamous
British gunsmith. A bastion of British chic, this
company is to guns what Chanel is to fashion and Rolls
Royce to cars. Harris John Holland, a tobacco dealer
who loved clay pigeon shooting, founded it in 1835
under William IV. Rapidly rivalling Purdey and
Lancaster, he took on his nephew Henry William
Holland as partner, and the business became Holland
& Holland. At the end of the 19th century, the firm
made inventive experiments with the H & H ejector
gun, known as the Southgate system, which only
needed two parts: a spring and the cock of the gun.
Fifty-one patents were filed for this between 1851 and
the mid-20th century, making Holland & Holland the
finest of European hunting guns. The accredited
supplier to the royal family, it specialised in high-end
shotguns, highly sought after by seasoned hunters. For
all these reasons, Holland & Holland is seen as a lifestyle
associated with the British establishment. Its impeccably
finished guns are genuine works of art, like the
two here, which inspired a bidding war between the
room and several telephone bidders. After a bitter
tussle, they were borne off for largely triple their estimate
- €73,000 - by a major French collector, who
certainly gave them his best shot! Chantal Humbert