Elephants Pack Their Trunks and Trundle off to Auction

LONDON, July 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --

- Official Elephant Parade Mela at the Royal Hospital Gardens, London Wednesday 30th June 2010 raises over GBP1 million for Asian Elephants

Last night saw the end of The Elephant Parade with the auction of thirty-one 6ft fibreglass model elephants by Sotheby's at The Elephant Parade Mela. The event, hosted by Goldie Hawn, Priya & Cyrus Vandrevala, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, Tanaz Dizadjl and Mark Shand at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London, raised a staggering GBP1,000,010 from the auction alone in aid of the Elephant Family charity.

    (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100701/398393-a )
    (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100701/398393-b )
    (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100701/398393-c )

650 of London's international glitterati enjoyed an Indian inspired champagne drinks reception with the chance to roam amongst the colourful herd, before heading to the south lawn. Mark Shand and Goldie Hawn opened the evening's proceedings with a heartfelt speech about their own experiences with Elephants before inviting attendees to enjoy an exquisite meal of roasted pepper tortilla with gazpacho soup, rump of spring lamb with pea puree and crushed new potatoes with a pudding of strawberry cheesecake followed by coffee and petit fours.

The auction, hosted by the Hon Henry Wyndham of Sotheby's, offered the chance to bid for the top 31 elephants from the parade, as chosen by an esteemed panel from Sotheby's, created by celebrities, well-known artists and designers including Marc Quinn, Alice Tempereley, Jack Vettriano, Tommy Hilfiger, Matthew Williamson and Alice Tempereley. The highlight of the auction was 'The Singing Butler Rides Again', the elephant designed by iconic artist Jack Vettriano which raised an extraordinary GBP155,000.

Guests were also treated to an exclusive live performance by Coco Sumner and band, leading into the exciting raffle which was drawn out by Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie of York.

The assembly of guests included Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie of York, Coco Sumner, Trinny Woodall, Liz Hurley and Arun Nayar, Tamara Beckwith, Anton and Lisa Bilton, Andy and Patti Wong, Henry Wyndham, Ben Elliot, Jack Vettriano, Marc Quinn, Peter Beard, Rula Lenska, James Khan, Lakshmi Mittal, Don McCullin, Nicky Haslam, Richard Caring, John Caudwell and First Lady of Iceland Doritt Moussaieff.

The 31 elephants which went under the hammer included a white-coloured elephant beside an enormous bronze flower, also white, created by the internationally renown sculptor Marc Quinn which raised GBP65,000; and artist Peter Beard's striking 'Mammoth Metaphor' elephant which went for GBP70,000, both generously sponsored by the Indian private equity investor Cyrus Vandrevala and his wife Priya.

All funds raised will go to The Elephant Family charity and over 15 UK conservation charities working to support the conservation of the Asian Elephant.

The remaining 228 elephants will continue to be available to buy online - http://www.elephantfamily.org - until 10pm on the 4th July where the public can bid for an elephant for as little as GBP5,000.

The Elephant Family, the only charity devoted exclusively to saving the Asian elephant from extinction in the wild, will further its work of habitat conservation with the goal of reversing the devastating decline in numbers. As Mark Shand comments, 'The herd of 248 Asian elephants that we assembled for the parade is probably larger than any that now exists in the wild.'

    Auction results:
    Lot 1: Union Jack by Thammakit Thamboon: GBP20,000
    Lot 2: Ziggy by Matthew Williamson: GBP22,000
    Lot 3: Taxi Elephant by Benjamin Shine: GBP40,000
    Lot 4: Elfreda by Jeff Hoare: GBP11,000
    Lot 5: Eli Krishna by Alice Temperley: GBP22,000
    Lot 6: The Empire Is Not Striking Back by Chintan Upadhyay: GBP14,000
    Lot 7: Gerald by Jonathan Yeo: GBP22,000
    Lot 8: Udata Hathi by Venkat Raman Singh Shyam & Rajendra Kumar Singh:
           GBP24,000
    Lot 9: Zabriskie by Storm Thorgerson: GBP25,000
    Lot 10: The Lion King On Stage by Sacha Jafri: GBP22,000
    Lot 11: Untitled (Gajaraja) by Jitish Kallat: GBP25,000
    Lot 12: Heaven's Haathi by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla: GBP20,000
    Lot 13: Kingdom by Rebecca Campbell: GBP22,000
    Lot 14: The Paul Smith Elephant by Paul Smith: GBP18,000
    Lot 15: Untitled by Marc Quinn: GBP65,000
    Lot 16: Jewel-ele by Tarun Tahilani: GBP20,000
    Lot 17: Topographant by Solange Azagury-Partridge: GBP22,000
    Lot 18: Looking Me In The Eye by Rina Banjeree: GBP20,000
    Lot 19: Seymour by Emma Elizabeth Kemp: GBP20,000
    Lot 20: Phoolan by Carrie Reichardt aka The Baroness & Nick Reynolds:
            GBP16,000
    Lot 21: Tommy HIlfiger red Elephant by Tommy Hilfiger: GBP16,000
    Lot 22: Layla by Faiza Butt: GBP16,000
    Lot 23: The Singing Butler Rides Again by Jack Vettriano: GBP155,000
    Lot 24: Candy by Issac Mizrahi: GBP13,000
    Lot 25: Less is Morvi by Nicky Haslam: GBP11,000
    Lot 26: A Penny For Your Thoughts by Jane Morgan: GBP140,000
    Lot 27: Love by Jeff Rowland: GBP26,000
    Lot 28: Mammoth Metaphor by Peter Beard: GBP70,000
    Lot 29: Hathi by Manish Arora: GBP22,000
    Lot 30: Ampersand by Luca Boonkerd Kaewdee: GBP100,000
    Lot 31: Ferrous by Michael Howells: GBP70,000

    http://www.elephantfamily.org

SOURCE Elephant Family