Vampire-slaying kits go up for auction
In a "Weird Guns and Curious Collectibles" auction at Rock Island Auction this week, two vampire-slaying kits are among the items up for bid ... just in time for Halloween.
An item called "Vampire Killing Kit," with a Liege-proofed boxlock percussion pocket pistol, is among those assembled in the 20th century using a mix of original antique, modified and modern components, according to the Rock Island Auction Company auction catalog.
Its label says "Professor Blomberg wishes to announce his grateful thanks to that well known gunmaker of Liege, Nicholas Plomdeur, whose help in the compiling of this (sic) special items, the silver bullet &c., has been most efficient." The case has a pocket pistol, a ball mold, multiple balls, a cap tin, powder flask, carved crucifix, a small cross pendant, the Lord's Prayer, a German document, a wooden stake, and vials labeled for "Professor Blomberg's New Serum," brimstone, garlic powder, and holy water.
Its auction date is Wednesday.
Another such kit contains a cross-shaped under-hammer percussion pistol. It also includes a label with thanks from Blomberg to Plomeur, along with - among other items - a cylinder-shaped powder flask and a wooden stake. Its auction date is Thursday.
Estimated price for each is $2,000 to $3,000, the catalog says.
To see videos that include details and explanations from the Rock Island Auction Company's lead historian, click here and here.
The auction, which runs through Friday, is part of a Sporting and Collector Auction.
The auction also includes:
- An assassin kit (similar to the vampire-killing kits) for use against “anarchists, traitors, and anti-religious zealots.”
- Japanese Roakuoh-Sha type 89 aerial gunnery trainer
- Jailer’s key percussion pistol
- 19th Century engraved percussion knife pistol by John Blissett of London
- Four-barrel boxlock flintlock “duckfoot” pistol
- Unmarked European prototype LeMat-style revolving carbine
- An autographed photo of John Philip Sousa, "The March King."
For more about the Rock Island Auction Company, visit here.