Rich Penn Auctions is offering up this
Vampire Hunting Kit from the collection of the late Dick Borgerding. Bidding is currently up to $1600, sans buyers premium.
Vampire kit, wood & leather case w/ornate brass hardware, wolf's
head & crossbow, interior sections hold wood arrows, prayer book
dated 1914, crucifix, rosary, candle stands, double-barrel percussion
pistol, lead balls, bullet mold, powder horn, skull bottle, bone pocket
knife, silver match holder, hypodermic needle, holy water bottle, coffin
nails & much more, probably early 1900's, all VG cond, case 10"H x
12.5"W x 10"D; top crossbow 18"L x 15"W.
On the bright side, they aren't claiming it's an authentic kit or offering up a definitive date of manufacture. Given that many of the individual pieces probably do date back to the late 1800s or early 1900s the bid price isn't too out of line, but does seem a bit high. If the after-market hinges hadn't been attached
over the decorative scrollwork I'd be a bit more enthusiastic about its quality.
It does indeed have a lot of eye appeal and would work well in a film or a LARP. There are some actual antiques included. The European bag hilted percussion pistol, cap tin, horn flask, and mould are 1840-1860s. The middle Victorian fleam (bleeder) is good, although I have no idea why it would be in such a kit, and the dagger looks pretty good, but I just can’t see it clearly enough to tell. The pocket watch is very modern junk and looks terrible in context it as does the cheap compass. The bible is just laziness, it’s easy to get a nicer one for a set. The tourist crossbow is however, absolutely excretable. Then again there are omissions, why is there no pyx for holding the consecrated host?
ReplyDeleteMind you I can only look at poor images and can see no detail at all, so this is just an impression, the kind you might get through a dirty window in a shop and see something in a case thirty feet away. It’s not as bad as some, but then again the bar is set pretty low. At least, as Propnomicon says, they are not touting these as “real”.