Giant Irish Elk Horns and Skull

A set of extinct Irish elk horns and skull, measuring 3.2m across; the impressive horns with some old damage and restoration, pin fittings to the skull. Note: For the greater part of the 20th century these horns have been in the possession of Major Robert (Bob) Wilson and hung in his private Himatangi hunting lodge. Upon his death they were bequethed to his son, and subsequently to our vendor. Major Bob was one of the first European settlers to graze stock on the Himatangi Sand Dunes, in the first half of last century he owned and farmed huge tracts of land along the Himatangi coastline. His father, Sir James Glenny Wilson, Kt.B., was an M.P. 1881-96; first president of the New Zealand Farmers? Union 1902-20; and first president of the Board of Agriculture 1914-29. This pair of elk horns, or another owned by Major Bob were deposited with the Dominion Museum, now Te Papa, as per a letter dated 1921 held in the museum archives, this letter also notes: ?With reference to the Irish Elk head purchased by you from Mr. O?Conner...'. The Irish elk (Megaloceros giganteus) became extinct at the end of the last Ice Age, about 11,000 years ago, with this example reputedly (family provenance) coming from an Irish bog. The Irish elk stood around 2.1m (6.9 inches.) tall at the shoulders carrying the largest antlers of any known cervid (a maximum of 3.65m (12 feet), this example with a width of 3.2m (10.5 feet) is considered large.