Last edited by quincyg; 09-10-2008 at 09:07 PM.
Proud Scouser, with a dabbling of Welsh and Irish.
bore yourself silly at my Flickr page...anorak central!
Superlambanana auction nets staggering ?550,000 for charity
Sep 10 2008 by Alan Weston, Liverpool Daily Post
Phil Redmond with the "Mandy" Mandala Superlambanana _320
A TOTAL of nearly 70 Superlambanana sculptures were sold for the staggering sum of ?550,000 at a charity auction held at St George?s Hall, in Liverpool, last night.
This is more than twice the figure organisers had hoped for from the event, which followed the much-loved sculptures going on public display for the last time at St George?s Plateau.
It means the Lord Mayor?s charity appeal will benefit by around ?400,000 from the net proceeds of the auction, with a further 25% to be raised from next week?s internet auction of the remaining Superlambananas.
By far the biggest individual amount of money was raised by Liverpool Culture Company creative director Phil Redmond, who successfully bid for three of the Superlambananas for a combined total of more than ?50,000.
One of these, the ?Mandy? Mandala Superlambanana, was bought for ?25,000 ? five times its guide price of ?5,000.
He also purchased the half-peeled Superlamb sculpture (with a guide price of ?8,000) for ?21,000, and the SuperConeBanana for ?5,000.
The auction began quietly with early sculptures selling for respectable but not spectacular amounts.
But, as the evening wore on and some of the more desirable Superlambananas came under the hammer, bidding became frenzied with some of the sculp-tures selling for many times their guide price.
The grass-covered Supergrass-banana, which had been in Old Hall Street at the heart of the city?s business district, sold for ?20,000, which was ?14,000 more than its guide price.
And the Koppy Superlambanana, inspired by Liverpool FC?s new strip and signed by players, sold for ?12,000, compared with its guide price of ?7,000.
Surprisingly, one of the most high-profile sculptures, the Baa-Nitez Superlambanana after LFC manager Rafa Benitez, was sold for only ?6,500 ? below its ?8,000 guide price.
Mr Redmond said the National Museums Liverpool, of which he is chairman, would benefit from his successful bid for the ?Mandy? Superlambanana.
?It shows how culture can create commerce, as well as raise money for charity. It?s excellent,? he said.
Well-known figures such as Kenny Dalglish and Gerry Marsden joined individuals and corporate sponsors for the grand sell-off of the sculptures which have captured the imagination of Liverpool people over the summer.
Another big spender was Liverpudlian Big Brother winner Craig Phillips, now a builder, property developer, and TV presenter. He dram-atically upped his bid to ?10,000 ? double the guide price ? to secure the ?Homer? sculpture, which is decked out in builder?s gear.
Craig said: ?My heart was set on the Homer because it represents the building industry, so it was right down my street.?
Comedian and Radio City DJ John Bishop bought the ?Baa-ve New World? sculpture for ?6,000 ? twice its guide price.
The Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Cllr Steve Rotheram, whose charity appeal will be the main beneficiary of the auction, said: ?I feel very emotional and over-whelmed by the whole thing. The people of Liverpool are the best. I?ve always said they were gener-ous and now they?ve proved it.?
alanweston
Two superlambananas snapped up at a recent auction have appeared at two Merseyside railway stations.
The iconic statues, bought by transport authority Merseytravel, are currently grazing at James Street Station and Liverpool South Parkway.
Lamb Lines and Ba Ba Braille Sheep will stay in their current positions for a while before being rotated around the region for other passengers to see.
About ?550,000 was raised for charity at the auction of 70 sculptures.
Both sculptures were initially sponsored by Merseytravel before being bought by the authority.
Chief executive Neil Scales said: "We are sure they will bring some added fun to the network. They'll be a talking point if nothing else.
"This is part of a wider investment we are making to public art across the network as part of our commitment to the 2008 legacy. It has been a very special year, but it shouldn't stop here."
Charity auction
Lamb Lines was designed by Rachael Ward of Liverpool Hope University and is based around her daily train journey.
Ba Ba Braille Sheep was designed by Southport-based artist Jola Kurzeja-Ryan with the National Blind Children's Society.
The sculptures were among the 125 superlambanana on display during Go Superlambanana 2008, which was visited by 40,000 people in Liverpool.
The auction of 70 of them raised ?550,000 with a large proportion of the money going to the Lord Mayor's charities.
The original yellow Superlambanana, designed by Japanese artist Taro Chiezo, stands on the corner of Tithebarn Street and Vauxhall Road.
BBC Liverpool
I thought they where Jolly good, I enjoyed them. I enjoyed the Photos
But they did not taste of Banana.
BE NICE......................OR ELSE
here's BaaBaa at LSP, took it when there the other Sunday for the MTT running day
Proud Scouser, with a dabbling of Welsh and Irish.
bore yourself silly at my Flickr page...anorak central!
I absolutely loved the Superlambs - it was a brilliant concept to place them all over the city. I actually spent a day going around looking at them. By the time they disappeared I'd seen around 70. Then the day after the auction I needed to go to Edge Lane as the school I work for had ordered two small superlambs for the kids to paint. Anyway there were about 20 superlambs there - waiting to be repaired.
The person at the Warehouse said that the success of the Superlambs had been unbelievable and that a lot of them would be on display again throughout the city, after they had been weatherproofed.
If I could have bought one at the auction I would have - god knows where I would have displayed it though!
There's quite a few SLBs in the BT Convention Centre although I don't think it's easy to gain access unless you're at a conference. The Maghull herd with yellow construction hats are there, as are the Walton prison one, the one with the Peeled tail and a shiny bluey/green one like the one in the tourist info centre. Mandy is at the World Musuem courtesy of Phil Redmond and I saw the runcorn bridge one at Norton Priory the other day.
They're baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!
There's still one in Old Hall Street in a window (opposite side to the train station)
That thing should be binned. Why pick on Liverpool to dump some teds naff offerings. Italy has the statue of David, New York has the statue of Liberty, London has Nelsons column, Paris has the Eiffel Tower and Liverpool? A naff looking lamb with a banana shoved up it'd jacksey? It's enough to make you weep.
Brian Labone, Everton CaptainAlways remember lads, one Evertonian is worth 20 Liverpudlians
nice to see Loop of life when I was at the Royal yesterday
Proud Scouser, with a dabbling of Welsh and Irish.
bore yourself silly at my Flickr page...anorak central!
AN AGREEMENT that would see Liverpool?s famous Superlambanana remain in the city is close to being reached, the Daily Post can reveal. Read
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Shorefields School did a Police 'Superpeelerlambanana recently:
Merseyside Police: News and Events: Merseyside
There's a Superlambanana at the former Toxteth Technical School (visible from Aigburth Rd entrance)
The Conservation Museum are doing a Rudolf one:
Rudolf the red nosed Superlambanana - a set on Flickr
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