BELL FROM MOUNTBATTEN’S HMS KELLY AND NELSON MOURNING RING STAR AT BONHAMS MARINE SALE
The bell from HMS Kelly, the ship commanded by Lord Louis Mountbatten from 1939 until it sank at the Battle of Crete in 1941, and which inspired Noel Coward’s famous wartime propaganda film In Which We Serve, sold for £7,800 against a pre-sale estimate of £2,500 – 3,500 at Bonhams, New Bond Street today (24 March), as part of The Marine Sale.
The bell was saved when HMS Kelly was decommissioned for seven months in May 1940.
An Admiral Lord Nelson George III gold and enamel mourning ring, one of 58 rings made by Salter and distributed by the Executors of Nelson’s will to relatives, close friends and pall bearers at his funeral in 1805 fetched £14,400.
Bonhams
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further five throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Boston in the USA; Toronto, Canada; and France, Monaco, Hong Kong and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. By the end of 2009, Bonhams had become UK market leaders in ten key specialist collecting areas.For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com