Goat status achieved.
King Charles’ ‘unique’ school project from more than 50 years ago — a hand-painted pottery goat — is set to fetch an estimated $12,000 at auction.
The colorfully decorated ceramic animal is thought to be the only sculpture ever created by His Royal Highness, back in the 1960s when Charles was attending Cambridge University — experts say that the future monarch may have found inspiration in the goat mascot of The Royal Regiment of Wales.
The com-bleat-ly forgotten collectible item became the prized possession of a family overseas many years ago. It was gifted to Canadian Raymond Patten on his 21st birthday, by his great aunt who worked as a cook at Cambridge.
Patten, now 76 and living in British Columbia, reached out to Hansons Auctioneers in the U.K. to alert them to the existence of the rare artifact, which is expected to spark an international bidding war when it goes up up for auction next month.
“My Aunt Nellie, Helen Patten, gave me the goat on my 21st birthday on June 22, 1969. She told me Prince Charles had made it. She was proud of the fact he attended Cambridge University in the late 1960s when she worked as a cook for the president of Queen’s College,” the retired carpenter told South West News Service.
“I believe she knew the future king on a personal basis. I have treasured the goat all my life. My aunt, who passed away at the age of 87 in 1993 in Cheshire, used to live at 37 Norfolk Terrace, Cambridge. She was my grandfather’s sister and never married. She was honored to serve members of the royal family. She cooked a meal for the Queen Mother,” Patten said.
Prince Charles arrived at Trinity College, Cambridge back in 1967, where he read Archaeology, Anthropology and History.
Charles was Britain’s first heir apparent to earn a university degree. He graduated Bachelor of Arts in June, 1970.
“We’re thrilled to have made this royal find. Raymond initially got in touch by email and we were hugely excited, Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, said.
“Raymond has decided to part with it now due to its historical significance. He is in his retirement years and would like to find it a new home where it will be treasured for decades to come,” he explained.
“We’ve been privileged to auction other early artworks by King Charles and the interest is always phenomenal. Such is the goat’s importance, Raymond flew to the UK to deliver it to us in person,” Hanson said.
“King Charles has demonstrated a passion for art throughout his life but is mainly known for his paintings. The discovery of this ceramics piece demonstrates another side to his talent. As far as we are aware it is the only example of pottery made by King Charles in existence,” he continued.
Hanson said he expects the piece to go for anywhere from $6,300 to $12,600.
Last year, the auction house had great success selling Charles’ childhood drawings of his mother and father, Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh.
They were said to have been produced when the future king was five or six years old, back in the mid-1950s.
The guide price was set from $6,300 to $12,600, like the sculpture — in the end, they went for a total of nearly $76,000.
The goat will be offered at Hansons Auctioneers’ Rare Books Auction, in Staffordshire, England, on June 4.
