For 55 years, Raymond Patten says he had treasured a small ceramic goat that his great-aunt gave him on his 21st birthday. The gift was not just any pottery piece. In fact, a future king made it. The retired carpenter from British Columbia decided to put the rare artwork up for auction. It sold to a private American buyer at the hammer price of 8,500 British pounds (C$14,875) — a total of 11,407 British pounds (C$19,964), including commission and other fees — in Hansons Auctioneers’ rare books auction in Staffordshire, England on June 4. Follow the CTV News channel on WhatsApp The pottery goat is considered to potentially be the only known piece of sculpture by King Charles, according to Hansons Auctioneers in a press release. “This simple ceramics piece proved itself to be the Greatest Of All Time goats. People the world over are fascinated by British royalty and the opportunity to own a unique item crafted by King Charles sparked major interest,” Charles Hanson, owner of the U.K. auction house, said in a statement. “Though a keen artist, he is better known for his paintings, so this was a rare opportunity.” The ceramic highland goat has yellow horns and yellow, pink and brown stripes, which Hanson describes as being “beautifully enamelled and modelled.” Hanson said the sculpture captures the “relaxed vibrancy and charm “of the late 1960s and early 1970s. “Perhaps King Charles was inspired by the goat mascot of The Royal Regiment of Wales,” he said. “As the regiment’s first colonel-in-chief, he wore its uniform at his investiture as Prince of Wales in 1969.” Canadian Raymond Patten flew to England to deliver the goat to auctioneer Charles Hanson. (Hansons / Nathan Fitzsimmons) The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App Aunt Nellie’s gift Patten recounted how his Aunt Nellie, Helen Patten, gave him the goat on his 21st birthday on June 22, 1969. “She told me Prince Charles had made it,” Patten, 76, said in the press release.” 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. I believe she knew the future king on a personal basis.” Charles was then studying archaeology and anthropology, and later history. He graduated with a bachelor of arts in June 1970, becoming the first British heir apparent to earn a university degree. Patten said his aunt died at the age of 87 in 1993 in Cheshire, U.K. “She was my grandfather’s sister and never married. She was honoured to serve members of the royal family,” Patten recalled. “She cooked a meal for the Queen Mother.” Hanson said Patten decided to part with the goat because of its historical significance. “He is in his retirement years and wanted to find it a new home where it would be treasured for decades to come,” he said. The goat was acquired by Helen Patten, a cook at Cambridge University in the 1960s. (Hansons / Nathan Fitzsimmons) Charles is shown in 1972. (Allan Warren)
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