Antique Vampire Killing Kit sold at auction for $14,850 in Natchez, Mississippi
Recently we related the story of Australian authorities offering a $1 million reward for the capture of a “Vampire” killer, Vampire Killer Sought by Aussie Authorities: Million Dollar Reward Offered. We posted a photo of an “authentic” vampire killing kit, circa 1800, that fetched $14,850 at an auction held in Natchez, Mississippi.
A sharp-eyed reader wondered how a circa 1800 vampire killing kit existed before Bram Stoker’s Dracula was published in 1897. This observation piqued our interest on the subject of the kits and when they came into existence. We discovered a second killing kit was up for auction held by the same company, Stevens Auction, that sold the “1800″ killing kit, slated for October 31.
Prior to the upcoming auction, Stevens had sold four of the vampire killing kits in the past 27 years.
From Collector’sQuest.com:
Fascinated, I spoke with Dwight Stevens, of Stevens Auction Company, on the phone yesterday about the antique piece of vampire history.“I don’t believe in vampires — I’ve never met one. But somebody believed in them, something drove people to believe… From New Orleans to Vicksburg, these old boxes remain.†Stevens has sold four vampire killing kits in his 27 years as an auctioneer, most recently selling one a year ago, in Natchez, Mississippi, for $14,850.
The statement from Stevens, which seemed to intimate that the denizens of the deep South “believed” in vampires and thus procured vampire killings kits, fascinated me, but then again, the superstitions and the world of voodoo in the gothic setting of moss-draped oaks and the hot and heavily perfumed air of the deep South seems to be the perfect setting for vampires. A Setting which writers such as Anne Rice, a native of New Orleans and the fabulously successful author of the fictional The Vampire Chronicles whose 1976′s “Interview with a Vampire”-details the character Luis who encounters the vampire Lestat in 1791′s Louisiana. And, Charlaine Harris, native of Tunica, Mississippi, and author of The Southern Vampire Series, set in modern day Louisiana in the fictional town of Bon Temps, where vampires attempt to coexist with humans. The HBO series, True Blood, is based on Harris’ books.
The following images are of the latest vampire killing kit slated to be sold in an estate auction to be held on October 31 in Port Gibson, Mississippi, at the home of the late Miss Isabel Person.
Stevens included a short bio on Miss Person, 93, and her home written by her nephew. The Rosewood boxed killing kit contains items such as a silver bullets, pistol, Holy Water, prayer book, vials, and a silver dagger. There’s no info as to why or how the killing kit came into Miss Person’s possession, or, the age of the kit.
Stevens didn’t include the “date” of the kit. Even so, upon further research into vampire killing kits, we discovered several controversies surrounding the origination of the kits. One such kit was auctioned off by Sothebys in 2003 for $12,000.
From USA Today:
According to Sotheby’s, some experts believe that such kits were commonly available to travelers in Eastern Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, while others think the kits were made in the early 20th century, possibly to cash in on interest in vampires sparked by the 1897 publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.Elaine Whitmire, head of 19th century furniture for Sotheby’s, said she believes the kit was assembled in the early 20th century and sold to travelers as a souvenir.“My opinion is this is a memento that you bought while you were in Europe,” she said. “I doubt it was cheap to buy.”
The Professor Blomberg Vampire Killing Kit
Added to the mix, the admission by one Michael De Winter in 2005 that he was the “originator” of the “antique” Professor Blomberg vampire killing kits.
From LesVampires.org:
I am prompted to write this true story of The Vampire Killing Kits, which have proliferated during the last few years since the coming of the Internet.
My story starts in or around 1970 when I was employed in the printing industry. My hobby was buying, selling and refurbishing antique guns. I sold mainly at the famous Portobello Market in London. My usual stock of guns for sale was only 10-20 at any one time and these tended to be of superior quality. I had a number of regular clients who arrived every week to see if I had any new stock. One of my regulars wanted a fine flintlock pistol and asked me to take in part exchange a Belgian percussion pocket pistol. I grudgingly agreed and allowed him 15.00 off the price of the flintlock.
In the LesVampires link, De Winters details how he put together the kits. The site, Spookylandcryptshas more on the Bloomberg Killing Kits but also states there are other “kits”, including examples which exist at the Ripley Museums.
The question that still remained was whether such “killing kits” would have been in existence in Europe prior to the publication of Irish author Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1897. According to Wikipedia, Stoker didn’t “invent” vampires but that Stoker’s novel and his character Dracula, were “singularly” responsible for the popularity of “modern day” vampires in films and television.
According to Beverley Richardson, vampire myths go back a thousand years and occur in “every culture” in different forms and varieties. The type of “vampire” portrayed today in film and book fiction are largely based on Eastern European myths which originated in China, Tibet, and India, myths which traversed the silk route to the Mediterranean. The wearing of capes, drinking blood, preying on humans at night, ect., are more “modern” versions of vampires based on Eastern European myths and lore.
According to Vampires in Myth and History, the word vampire was added to the English language in 1732 based upon a German translation that stemmed from a case that occurred in Serbia. Western scholars “seriously” considered the “existence” of vampires after two “well-documented” famous cases occurred in East Prussia in 1721 and the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1725-1734.
Both incidents were investigated, well-documented, and written about in books which, at the time, circulated in Europe. One such case involved Arnold Paole, a Serbian, believed to have become a vampire after his death in 1725. Prior to his death-Paole purportedly broke his neck after falling off a hay wagon-Paole told people that he had been “plagued” by a vampire but that he had “cured” himself by “eating the soil” from the vampire’s grave and “smearing himself with his blood”. Allegedly, after Paole’s death, four people who complained they were being “plagued” by Paole died “shortly after”. Ten days later, with the permission of the local authorities, Paole’s body was exhumed from his grave where “fresh blood” allegedly flowed from his eyes, mouth, nose, and ears. That his shirt, the coffin covering, and the coffin were “bloody”. “Concluding” Paole was a vampire, a wooden stake was driven through his heart.
For a more complete detailing of vampire myths read Vampires in Myth and History.
As for whether residents of the Deep South procured vampire killing kits in order to protect themselves from local “vampires”, there seems to a lack of written documentation as to the existence of “cases” which have been linked to vampires. As to whether the vampire killing kits are “authentic’, Sothebys believed the vampire killing kit auctioned off for $12,000 was made in the early 20th century as a souvenir while Michael De Winter stated he was the creative genius behind the “Professor Blomberg vampire killing kits” which were then sold as “authentic” vampire killing kits made in the 1800′s. Historically, vampires were part and parcel of European forklore with two well-known documented cases in the 1700′s. Cases which were later written about in books which circulated in Europe prior to Bram Stoker’s fictional account of Dracula published in 1897. As to whether there were vampire killing kits in existence prior to Dracula’s emergence in popular fiction, the only “evidence” are the “kits’ that occasionally pop up in auctions, on Ebay, and the few that are kept in museums such as Ripleys.
From the article- Vampire Killing Kits: Fake....Oct 26, 2009 By LBG-
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