Cows can fly: Beswick lot bid to 30 times estimate in Glasgow

But he is best known as a prolific modeller of horses (he created more than 130 different equine models) and a series of reproductions of champion livestock that were particularly admired in the farming community.

Some were in production for many years. Lesser-known breeds had shorter runs and consequently rank high on the most-wanted list.

The Galloway Bull was made by Beswick in three production line versions in the 1960s. These were those in black gloss (model 1746A that received a production run from 1961 to 1968), the 'belted' bull with its white stripe (1746B) produced for the same brief period, and the so-called Silver Dunn (1963-68). All are rarities that can command four-figure sums with prices of over £2000 each not uncommon.

A lot including two versions of the Belted Galloway Bull was offered as part of a collection of Beswick animals sold by McTears in Glasgow on July 4. The two 1746B models were included in a lot of eight figures, the others being Aberdeen Angus Cow (1563), Friesian Bull (1439A), Friesian Cow (1362A), Friesian Calf (1429), Aberdeen Angus Calf (1406A) and Friesian Calf Standing (1249C). With all pieces in good condition, it raced past its estimate of just £150-250 to bring £7500.

A second lot from this collection comprised two Galloway Bulls in different colours. A black gloss (model 1746A) and another in what appears to be a 'chocolate brown' trial colourway sold at £3600. The latter was never put into production and is one of only a few known (two examples were sold at Bonhams in 2005-06 for prices of around £4000 each). 

A record for Beswick pottery was set in Stoke-on-Trent in 2022 when a rare variant of one of the factory’s best-known models – the familiar model of the shire horse mare (model 818) in Painted Gloss White – took £11,300 at the Potteries Auctions.