Two of World’s Most Infamous Hoax Photos Sold for Over $3,400
Two original photographs from the legendary Cottingley Fairies series have sold at auction for $3,440 (£2,600), nearly doubling their estimated value and reigniting public fascination with one of the 20th century’s most enduring hoaxes.
Historic Images with Mysterious Origins
The lore behind the infamous Cottingley Fairies was previously covered by PetaPixel. As a quick recap, the images, taken by cousins Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths in 1917 in Cottingley, West Yorkshire, depict the girls “interacting” with fairies in a garden setting. Initially believed by some, including famed author and spiritualist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, to be authentic evidence of the supernatural, the photographs were later revealed to have been staged using cardboard cutouts.
Despite the eventual confession from both women decades later, the Cottingley Fairies photographs remain a subject of cultural fascination and folklore.
Auction Highlights and Contents of the Lot
As first reported by the BBC, the auction was held at John Taylors in Louth and included two sepia-toned fairy photographs mounted on brown card: Alice and the Fairies and Elsie and the Gnome. A third image of Frances and her friend Mary Anderson, taken in the early 1920s, was also included, along with an archive of material related to the Cottingley Fairies story.
David Whittaker, the son of Mary Anderson, consigned the collection. Anderson, a childhood friend of Frances, received the prints from her schoolmate in the 1920s. Supporting documents, including correspondence with Frances Griffiths’ daughter, were also included in the lot to establish provenance.
Strong Interest and Surprising Sale Price
Auctioneer James Laverack described the photographs as “very rare,” noting their excellent condition and compelling backstory. The lot attracted significant attention ahead of the sale, with pre-auction interest exceeding expectations.
The winning bidder, a private collector from the London area, secured the lot within two minutes for a final price of $3,350 (£2,600).
“The interest in it has been absolutely phenomenal,” said a spokesperson for John Taylors.
A Personal Connection and Family Reflections
“I’m very pleased that there is now another custodian and they aren’t just sitting in a drawer in our house,” David Whittaker said.
Reflecting on his late mother’s belief in the images, Whittaker added, “She spent her life believing in fairies. She would be in two minds as to whether these kind of things should carry on when she was convinced in the end it was all a hoax.”
He noted that although Elsie and Frances confessed in 1983 that the fairies were paper cut-outs held in place with hatpins, many, including Whittaker’s own mother, continued to hold onto their belief in the spiritual world.
A Lasting Cultural Legacy
The Cottingley Fairies first gained international attention in 1920 when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, published the images in The Strand Magazine, using them to support his article on spiritualism. The photographs sparked widespread debate, with believers and skeptics alike weighing in.
While the hoax was eventually revealed, the photographs continue to captivate audiences, with PetaPixel even sharing details in 2024 on a project by the U.K.’s National Science and Media Museum to CT scan the quarter-plate ‘Midg’ camera that created the iconic images.
As one of the few surviving original print sets, the photographs auctioned this week offer more than monetary value; they represent an enduring chapter in British cultural history and serve as a symbol of childhood imagination, media influence, and the blurred line between belief and reality.
Image credits: John Taylors and David Whittaker
