Wooden Bird Sold At Auction For $100 Turns Out To Be An Emblem Of Anne Boleyn
Paul Fitzsimmons/Marhamchurch AntiquesThe bird was covered with soot, and it may have once been displayed near a fireplace.
After King Henry VIII had his second wife, Anne Boleyn, executed on trumped-up charges of adultery, incest, treason, and conspiracy in 1536, the monarch tried to obliterate every trace of her from his palaces. But a wooden falcon that represented Boleyn’s heraldic emblem somehow escaped the carnage and ended up for sale hundreds of years later.
The falcon was spotted by antique dealer Paul Fitzsimmons, who suspected that the crown on its head meant that it had royal origins. Fitzsimmons paid just $100 for it, only to find that it was worth an estimated $250,000 and may have once adorned Boleyn’s private apartment in the Hampton Court Palace.
“This is really quite spectacular because it is in perfect condition and it has got all its original gilding, all its original paint,” Fitzsimmons raved of the find.
Historians suspect that the bird, seated on a bed of Tudor roses, was probably saved by a supporter of Boleyn’s shortly before her execution.
“This could have been removed literally as Anne Boleyn was about to have her head cut off,” Fitzsimmons said.
Though he could fetch a pretty penny for the rare artifact, Fitzsimmons decided to return the falcon to its home at Hampton Court Palace.
“It really has to go back to Hampton Court Palace,” he said. “It does carry a huge value. But it’s not about the value.”
