A rare wooden Peterborough Canadian canoe made about 1920 was sold to a Queenstown buyer for $6000 in a "very buoyant" Dunedin auction yesterday.
Proctor Auction manager Ronnie Proctor said initial bidding at the auction house’s George St premises reached $4500, and then continued between two phone bidders.
Bidding rose in $250 steps, and the final price was a "really good outcome", Mr Proctor said.
The canoe and a slightly smaller yacht were on sale as part of a deceased estate, and it is understood they belonged to a former Sydney judge who had lived at Waihola in retirement.
The yacht was not sold yesterday, but two marble busts, also from the estate, had sold for $2650 each, he said.
The 4.8m-long canoe was handmade by the Peterborough Canoe Company, in Canada, about 1920, and was believed to be one of only a few of its age left in the world in such condition.
The canoe was restored in 1994 and had since been stored in a Waihola boat shed, Mr Proctor said.
