ANOTHER UNIQUE GOLDEN ‘CONUNDRUM’ EGG TO BE OFFERED AT BATEMANS OF STAMFORD IN THEIR 1ST AUGUST AUCTION.
Twelve eggs were offered as prizes by Cadbury’s for their hugely successful 1980s advertising campaign for their Creme Egg confections. Specifically twelve perspex caskets, each containing a wooden box and handwritten parchment letter, were hidden at secret locations across the country. they could only be found through clues hidden in a book written by Don Shaw in 1983 called ‘Conundrum – The Cadbury’s Creme Egg Mystery’. The prize for deciphering the pictures and riddles to find one of the hidden caskets was a golden egg!
This particular egg is titled ‘Cuckoo Cuckoo’ and was the eleventh story in the Conundrum book, written in West Country dialect and is based on the Cuckoos of Crewkerne folktale. It was originally found in 1983 by a man called Clive Pinder from Dorset in Cricket St Thomas, Somerset. Mr Pinder eventually sold the egg at auction in 2018 for a hammer price of £6,500 to the current owner, who now in turn has decided to ask Batemans to sell it for him to pass on the wonder and joy at owning such an incredible thing.
The egg was created by Garrard & Co of London, is exquisitely engraved and enamelled in translucent green and blue with a scene depicting a cuckoo in a tree. Various men are standing amongst the trees below the cuckoo and are staring and pointing up at it, seven wheatsheaves are engraved to the far side.
It is 8cm high and weighs 253.6g.
Estimates: £15,000 – £20,000
Buyer’s Premium: 30% (25%+VAT)
This incredible golden egg also comes with its original green leather presentation box, the perspex box which was buried in the ground, wooden casket, handwritten parchment letter, and a copy of ‘Conundrum, The Cadbury’s Creme Egg Mystery’ written by Don Shaw, illustrated by Nick Price, published by Hamlyn, 1984.
Batemans have sold a golden egg before – in fact we have sold the same egg twice!
First in July 2017 for a hammer price of £17,200 and then again in February 2021 for £31,000.
This ‘secret thirteenth’ 22ct gold egg, also commissioned by Cadbury’s from Royal Goldsmiths Garrard & Co, was considerably larger than the original twelve, weighing 323.6g and standing 8.3cm high; it was based on the front cover of the book itself, incorporating elements of each of the twelve riddles.
It was first offered by Batemans of Stamford on behalf of the original recipients and was sold in their auction on 1st July 2017 for a then house record hammer price of £17,200 against pre-sale estimates of £10,000 – £15,000 – the total price paid by the overjoyed buyer (including 20% Buyer’s Premium) was £20,640.
On Friday 19th February 2021, having returned to Batemans following the sad passing of the previous buyer, the golden egg smashed its presale estimates of £15,000 – £20,000 and sold to an online bidder for a new auction house record of £37,200 (including 20% Buyer’s Premium)!
Any enquiries can be made directly to Batemans Office & Saleroom:
Telephone: 01780 766466 or Email: auctions@batemans.com
