The ‘half mammal and half fish’ creature sold at Sworders for £4700.
This late 19th century ‘natural history’ specimen purports to be the mummified body of a creature that was half mammal and half fish.
Traditionally these were made in Japan for Shinto shrines and temples, although they caused a sensation when first seen by Westerners – the American sea captain Samuel Barrett Eades selling his boat to pay $6000 for the example he was shown by Dutch merchants in 1810.