First World War silver presentation model of the Vickers FB5 or Gunbus made by Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company – estimate £3000-5000 at Dominic Winter.
It will be sold together with two related photographs plus a copied letter of provenance at Dominic Winter in South Cerney on November 23. The estimate is £3000-5000.
Ordered for the Royal Flying Cops in 1915, the FB5 was the world’s first operational fighter aircraft: a two-seat military biplane armed with a single .303 Lewis gun.
This silver model was specifically commissioned by Vickers as a gift to the works manager of Vickers Brooklands at this time, Percy Maxwell Muller. The model is separately hallmarked in nine locations on the plane including the wheels and rotating propeller.
