A COCKERMOUTH auction house will be holding its postponed Country Sporting Sale later this month.

Highlights include a hunting horn believed to have belonged to the famous huntsman John Peel and a gun used in the qualifying round of the 1960 Olympics.

The most valuable lots are expected to be amongst the guns which include a range of shotguns by Boss, W W Greener and John Dickson.

Highlights are a Boss and Co 12 bore, sidelock ejector shotgun with single trigger built in 1898, valued at £7,000 to £8,000, and a Scottish Kinnear of Buckhaven double flintlock small bore sporting shotgun with an estimate of £800 to £1,200.

However, the most interesting gun in the sale is a Merkel 12 bore over under shotgun used in the qualifying rounds of the summer Olympics in 1960 by Victor Brett Huthart (1924 to 1997) which is expected to make £2,500 to £3,000.

The qualifying round is documented in Sir Jackie Stewart’s book ‘Winning Is Not Enough’ where he came third behind Brett Huthart and Joseph Wheater.

The sale also includes a hunting horn believed to have belonged to the famous huntsman John Peel (1776-1854) with an estimate of £300-£500. The horn was bought from a sale at Naworth Castle, Cumbria, in 2013 from the estate of Thomas Niven, a Carlisle timber merchant.

Other interesting shooting lots include a Kynoch Ammunition cartridge advertising mirror, circa 1910, valued at £500 to £800, and a James Purdey wooden shooting stick with an estimate of £30 to £50. Fishing items include a 38lb cast salmon which is expected to make £300 to £500 and a variety of Hardy reels, rods and boxes including a Hardy Perfect brass faced salmon fly reel valued at £200 to £300. An early Alan Wood hunting knife, custom-made for the vendor with a hollow ground blade, has an estimate of £150 to £200.

Other eye-catching items include a carved pine martin and mouse by the well-known Keswick artist and member of the Lakes Artist Society Richard ‘Dick’ Fisher (1925-2015). Measuring 87cm high, the carving is expected to make £50 to £80.

The sale also features a range of interesting fox hunting memorabilia including a Duke of Buccleuch Hunt fox hunting jacket with buttons with an estimate of £70 to £100 and some Dumfries Foxhounds silver cufflinks valued at £30 to £50. A collection of Bangalore Hunt Club memorabilia including a hunt jacket with buttons, two photographs and a pair of spurs has an estimate of £80-£120 and a Van Ingen of Mysore jackal head, circa 1927 is valued at £300-£400. The Bangalore Hunt hunted Jackals in India during the 1920s.

The sale will be staged over three days – July 22 to 24. An illustrated catalogue can be viewed online, a printed, text only catalogue, is also available for £2 from the saleroom. Alternatively lots can be viewed in person at Mitchells saleroom: Sunday, July 19, 10.30am to 3pm; Monday, July 20, 10am to 5pm, and from 9am on each day of the sale. For more details contact auctioneer James Moore on 01900 827800.