An antique sex toy with Anglo-Irish origins has been purchased from an international buyer and will return to Ireland.
In 2017, an auctioneer sold the 19th century ivory dildo to a wealthy private collector from the
United States for £2,900 (€3,200).However, last weekend a customer emailed Shawna Scott, the owner of online sex shop Sex Siopa, informing her that the same item was up for auction again.“It made my heart sink when it was sold. It just seemed like such an important part of
Irish sexual history,” Scott told The Irish Times.“Sometimes I think with Irish history, unless something is tied to the famine or 1916 it gets a little forgotten or re-prioritised.”But Scott didn’t have the cash to buy the antique item, and on Monday decided to ask for public donations. She said her intention is to relocate the dildo to a museum in Ireland.
The Irish businesswoman wrote on Twitter: “I don’t have the extra cash necessary to purchase the ghost-ridden (in more ways than one) ivory sex toy, and I have zero clue as to how museum management works or if anywhere would take it.
“So I need help. Who can help me save this dildo?”OK folks. The auction is in 90 minutes, so I don't have time to set up a crowdfunding campaign. What I'm going to do is if anyone wants to contribute to our bid, they can paypal me the money (hello@sexsiopa.ie), and if we don't win, I'll refund everyone back.— Sex Siopa (@SexSiopa) July 29, 2019If confirmed as authentic, the sex toy is around 130 years old and was owned by a wealthy Anglo-Irish household. It received more than 100 bids from nearly 40 different countries when it was auctioned in April 2017, the Irish Times reported.
At the time, Matthews Fine Art Auction Rooms advertised the sale of this “antique carved ivory ladies’ companion in scarlet lined leather upholstered carry box with inset bevelled glass panel”.
Speaking to The Times just before the item was sold auctioneer Damien Matthews explained that the original owner was fighting a battle in
China, the 1899 Boxer Rebellion, where he decided to have it made and sent back to
Ireland for his wife.
“It is beautifully romantic,” he said.
“You can talk about it as a smutty thing, but this was very much an object of love and desire. It goes beyond erotica, it screams love and devotion. It is very, very rare, I have never come across anything like it in 25 years of traipsing around the country. It is a rarity, and it is Irish.”
Scott posted regular updates about the progress of her crowdfund on
Twitter between 4.28pm and by around 8pm, informed her followers that they had “won the dildo for Ireland!”. The businesswoman was accepting donations via her Paypal account.
She told the Irish Times that she wants to confirm it was the same dildo which left Irish shores in 2017.Related... 'I Dressed Up As Woody The Cowboy For A Swinger's Party' Sperm May Have A 'Secret Handshake' To Get To The Egg, Says Scientist