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STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET, UK — All the fun of the fair comes to Sworders on Thursday, March 7 with the sale of the John Barker collection of late 19th- and early 20th-century carousel horses, carvings, and regalia. Bidding for the 47 lots is available via LiveAuctioneers.

Purchasing his first carousel carving from a junk shop at the age of 14, John Barker has collected fairground art for more than half a century. He estimates that as much as 80% of his collection was acquired in the U.S., where many fine pieces were exported to collectors from the 1960s to the 1990s.

After selling a small portion of his holdings at Sworders in 2018 and choosing around a dozen pieces to pass on to his grandchildren, Barker will sell his collection across two sales this year.

“I can’t lie. It is a wrench,” he said. “Every piece is exceptional, and it’s been a lifelong passion finding and restoring them. However, I look forward to seeing how they are enjoyed by other collectors, knowing my name will always be connected to them.”

Among Barker’s favorite lots in the sale is a torso mount from a famous ride created by the celebrated Burton-on-Trent, England woodcarver Charles (C. J.) Spooner. Made in 1900, this model of the politician Joseph Chamberlain wearing a tam-o’-shanter and monocle was part of a very topical carousel of 12 centaurs carved with the heads of Boer War leaders. The ride debuted at the Neath Fair in Swansea, Wales in September 1900.

Apparently, Chamberlain, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, did not appeal to the customers, who preferred to ride atop Kitchener, Roberts, Baden-Powell, and other ‘war hero’ centaurs. Quietly removed from the ride and replaced, it is unlikely Spooner ever carved another. This, the 2ft 5in (73cm) top half of the figure, is estimated at £6,000-£8,000 ($7,575-$10,100).

Spooner produced a huge variety of animal figures for merry-go-rounds, ranging from the usual galloping horses to ostriches, bears, lions, donkeys, pigs, goats, and turkeys. A couple of rarities in the sale are an ‘outside row’ carving of an animated juvenile elephant wearing a colorful saddlecloth (estimated at £7,000-£9,000, or $8,835-$11,360) and an ornate pair of juvenile ‘Dobby’ horse carousel mounts, likely taken from a child-size ride owned by W. H. Marshall & Sons of Bradford.

There are several examples from the Bristol workshop of Arthur Anderson. The son of a woodcarver who made figureheads for wooden ships, he turned out dozens of superb animals for fairs all across Britain. When he died in 1936, it is said that classic English fairground horse died with him. A large Anderson galloper dating to circa 1895 and probably carved for the showman Walter Sharples, whose initials appear on the saddle, is estimated at £5,000-£7,000 ($6,310-$8,835) while a juvenile carousel mount in the form of a lion, with initials for the famed Worcestershire, England showman Alfred Scarrott, carries an estimate of £3,000-£5,000 ($3,785-$6,310).
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Fairground carved wooden admission sign by C. J. Spooner, estimated at £1,200-£1,800 ($1,515-$2,270) at Sworders.
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Juvenile elephant fairground carousel mount by C. J. Spooner, estimated at £7,000-£9,000 ($8,835-$11,360) at Sworders.
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Fairground carousel mount torso of Joseph Chamberlain by C. J. Spooner, estimated at £6,000-£8,000 ($7,575-$10,100) at Sworders.
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Juvenile carousel mount in the form of a lion by Arthur Anderson, estimated at £3,000-£5,000 ($3,785-$6,310) at Sworders.
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Fairground carousel galloper horse by Arthur Anderson, estimated at £5,000-£7,000 ($6,310-$8,835) at Sworders.
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