Great Yarmouth Punch and Judy figures – £4600 at Cotswold Auction Company.
However, they really came into their own in seaside resorts in the 19th century as railways delivered the holidaying masses.
Cirencester saleroom Cotswold Auction Company offered a collection of related memorabilia on November 29.
Such was the demand, a bidding battle between a phone bidder and a room bidder that was fought over a lot of seven painted and carved wood Punch and Judy puppets estimated at £150-300 took the hammer price to £4600 (plus 22% buyer’s premium).
The lot contained a few classic pieces, including a sausage machine and a crocodile. However, according to the saleroom, the most important pieces in the lot were Punch and Judy themselves, thought to have been made c.1890 by ‘Professor’ Albert Rose, a scenery painter for the English National Opera based in Great Yarmouth.
At the weekends his passion was putting on Punch and Judy shows on Gorleston-on-Sea and other Norfolk beaches.
An extensive set of Frank Edmonds Weymouth pattern papiermâché Punch and Judy puppets brought £1100 (guide £150-250).
The lot included a ghost, clown and policeman, and a copy of the Harlequin Press Weymouth & Mr Punch book.
Edmonds worked Weymouth beach for 50 years.
An individual highlight was an early 20th century, possibly Lehmann, German tinplate acrobatic Punch, about (24.5cm) long, which took £1050 (estimate £40-60).
