Fairground organ fetches £38,000

A rare fairground organ dating back to the 1800s was sold for £38,000, an auctioneer said.

The 19th century full-size organ was expected to fetch upwards of £30,000 when it went under the hammer.

But Terry Woodcock, from Unique Auctions in Lincoln, said the organ was actually sold after the auction.

“The buyer, who is from South Korea, actually missed the sale,” he said.

“But the organ didn’t reach the reserve price, so he hung around then bought it after for £38,000.”

The organ, fitted into a 1974 Leyland lorry, was sold with a “heavy heart” by an elderly man who plans to buy a barge, Mr Woodcock said previously. He said the same buyer also bought a 1927 Morris Cowley car for £11,500. “They are going to an amusement park in South Korea.”

Also in the same sale was a painting by prominent Nazi Rudolf Hess, sold as part of a collection of one man’s Second World War memorabilia.

The landscape, painted by Hess, was given to Roland Davis who guarded the infamous figure after the Second World War as a keepsake.

His son Peter Davis, from Lincolnshire, had asked that the items, including a helmet, gas mask, flight records, and medals, be sold together.

They help tell the story of what Mr Woodcock described as Mr Davis’s “incredible” life.

He said Mr Davis served in the army in Burma, then, when the Second World War broke out, joined the air force as a rear gunner on Lancaster bombers.