Stone sphinx statues from Suffolk garden fetch £195,000

The couple bought them at a country house sale for about £300 and thought they were 19th Century models

A pair of stone sphinx statues that a couple bought for £300 and put in their garden for 15 years have sold at auction for £195,000.

The items were listed as being a "pair of 19th Century carved stone garden models".

Auctioneer James Mander said the price was reached because the buyers, who have remained anonymous, "seemed to think they are actually Egyptian".

He added the sellers were "really pleased" with the result.

Mr Mander, whose firm is based near Sudbury in Suffolk, said the couple had decided to sell the "heavily weathered" statues of the mythic Greek/Egyptian creature as they were moving house.

"All the time they sat there and they [the sellers] had no idea what they had in their garden," said Mr Mander.

He said the "unassuming" metre-long (3ft) statues were "just amongst" other items in the couple's garden that were sold in the online auction on Saturday.

The 20m high Great Sphinx at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt is believed to have been created during the reign of Khafra, who ruled 2558BC to 2532BC

The mythic creature has the body of a lion, wings of a bird of prey and usually has a human head

He said it was "quite surprising really" when they fetched £195,000 after 15 minutes of bidding.

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"We had no expectations at all then the bidding started at £200 and it crept up and up," he added.

"It got to £100,000 and seemed like it was going to stop and then carried on."

Mr Mander said the statues were badly weathered and were "unassuming"

Of the sellers, Mr Mander added: "It's a lovely story and as an auctioneer it's a dream.

"They're a lovely couple, they've just moved house, so it's really nice and from my perspective the perfect scenario."

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