A flock of Shaun the Sheep sculptures that formed a trail around the Newcastle this summer have raised £195,400 for charity at auction.
The hand-painted sculptures inspired by the popular Aardman character, Shaun the Sheep, went under the hammer for Newcastle’s St Oswald’s Hospice.
For 10 weeks across the summer, the 45 large and 70 little sculptures which made up St Oswald’s Hospice’s Shaun the Sheep on the Tyne, lined the streets of Newcastle in a free public art trail for all to enjoy. This was the follow up to previous hospice art trails, Great North Snowdogs in 2016 and Elmer’s Great North Parade in 2019.
On Tuesday 10th October, 37 of the individually decorated sheep, along with three smaller Shauns and a little Elmer specially created for the auction, went under the hammer at an auction at Newcastle Civic Centre, in aid of St Oswald’s Hospice.
Host Justin Lockwood and Auctioneer Fred Wyrley-Birch from Newcastle’s Anderson & Garland guided the bidding. The highest bid on the night was for Lot 35, Wor Shaun, painted by Dan Lycett from Wor Flags. To the sounds of Local Hero and the waving of lots of black and white flags, Wor Shaun sold for £11,000, to huge applause.
Anyone missing the on the Newcastle United-inspired sheep needn’t have worried, as Lot 38 was Toon Baarmy, a smaller Shaun sculpture that had been created especially for the auction. Painted by local artist David Maguire, this sold for £8,800.
Trail favourite, Lot 29, was Art is Mischief by Anon. It depicted Shaun poking his head through the Mona Lisa and it went for £10,000 after a bidding war between someone in the room and an online bidder.
“The tension and excitement in the room was intense, as our in person bidders went head to head with hundreds of Shaun fans who had registered to bid online. Seeing each sheep sell for such huge amounts, and the joy it brought people to buy them was just incredible” said St Oswald’s Hospice Chief Executive, Steph Edusei.
“It just shows how well received and loved our flock were, to have so many people fighting to give one a forever home at auction. I would like to say a big thank you to our host Justin and auctioneer Fred, who were both terrific on the night and kept the energy high throughout, and to all those who placed bids and who helped make the event such a success.
“Their generosity will help our hospice team to continue to be there for the families across our region, who rely on our care, support and services.”
There were also 70 smaller Shauns, designed and decorated by North East schoolchildren, youth groups and organisations, which formed the Learning Programme for Shaun the Sheep on the Tyne, sponsored by Northumbrian Water.
Shaun the Sheep on the Tyne is in conjunction with creative producers Wild in Art, along with Shaun the Sheep creators Aardman and headline trail sponsor Newcastle City Council.