Mills grenade table lighter, £2300 at Great Western Auctions.
The 3½in (9cm) high item was estimated at just £100-200 at the sale on June 14 but brought £2300.
The Mills ‘No 5’ hand grenade, or ‘Mills Bomb’ as it was known colloquially, was introduced in May 1915 and remained the dominant British version for the rest of the First World War.
However, almost as soon as it entered production the distinctive pineapple design had inspired other uses - weapons of mass destruction were considered a perfectly suitable subject for novelty trinkets of the day.
Solid silver versions, complete with removable ‘safety pin’ and ‘strike lever’ were made as table lighters as early as 1916. Often carrying the registration number RD655472, and occasionally a presentation inscription to a respected soldier, they are known with hallmarks for a number of maker-retailers.
Production continued until 1918 and was evidently revived during the Second World War as some carry assay marks for the early 1940s.
An example by the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Co from the same date was sold by Bonhams for £4000 in November 2006. Another offered by Gerrards in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, in February last year sold for £3100 against an estimate of £200-300 (‘Pick of the week’, ATG No 2582).
However, such prices are blown away by that achieved by the Mills Bomb lighter hallmarked for Deakin & Francis, Birmingham 1917, sold by Sotheby’s in March 2021 as part of the collection of the late Countess Mountbatten of Burma.
It had been estimated at £200-300 but in the heat of a ‘celebrity’ auction had made £12,000.
