[Curiosa] Vampire Killing Kit

No place, no date (ca. 20th century). Comprising miniature metal crossbow; four metal "silver tipped" arrows; collapsible wooden crucifix; canister of powdered garlic; seven glass vials for various serums, tinctures, etc. ("Holy Water", "Elixir of Vitriol", "Professor Blomberg's New Serum", "Emetric Tartar for Putric Fever"); a wooden stake; three wooden-tipped bullets, etc. In original purple velvet-lined wooden case; printed label on inner lid describing kit's purpose and listing contents. Size of objects vary; box: 10 1/4 x 13 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. (260 x 336 x 57 mm).

"This box contains the items considered necessary, for the protection of persons who travel into certain little known countries of Eastern Europe, where the populace are plagued with a particular manifestation of evil known as Vampires. Professor Ernst Blomberg respectfully requests that the purchaser of this kit, carefully studies this book in order, should evil manifestations become apparent, he is equipped to deal with them efficiently."

In 2014, Jonathan Ferguson, curator of firearms at the National Museum of Arms and Armour in Leeds, England, conducted a study on the known examples of these kits, focusing particular attention to those created by Professor Blomberg. Ferguson noted that over 100 examples are known to exist, and while presenting as from the 19th century, or earlier, were actually, "very unlikely to have existed prior to about the 1930s at the earliest". While constructed from antique boxes and contents, as Ferguson explained, their creation likely resulted from the craze surrounding the Hammer Dracula films starring Christopher Lee (History at Stake! The Story Behind Vampire Slaying Kits, British Library, 2014). Despite this, Ferguson wrote, “these enigmatic objects transcend questions of authenticity. They are part of the material culture of the gothic; aspects of our shared literary and cinematic passions made physical. Lacking any surviving artifact of vampirism either folkloric or fictional, fans of the gothic had created one to fill the gap.”

This lot is located in Philadelphia.

Provenance

From the collection of Justin G. Schiller

[Curiosa] Vampire Killing Kit

[Curiosa] Vampire Killing Kit