Vampire Slaying Kit, 19th C and later

Description

Very large kit packed in a heavy lined and fitted oak case measuring 19 ½” by 14″ by 4 ½”
with inlaid brass monogram on top and mortised lock (no key). Kit features a flintlock pistol
with tapering 8 ½” 2-stage smoothbore barrel of approximately .70 caliber; the lock plate
marked “CHINELLI”. Gun accessories include a pewter powder flask, round tin containing
several lead bullets, and round black canister with screw-off top bearing a gold cross and
containing bullet patches. Silver-hilted dagger with 8 ½” double-edged blade etched with
cross and “MORTEM”, deeply stamped with cross and skull and crossbones on the
ricasso. Accessories include glass holy water bottle with cross, wood mallet with inlaid
brass cross and two wooden stakes, hinged carved wood box with rosary, black oval
hinged wood box with candle, new testament with cross on the cover and indistinct
inscription with the date “July 28, 1851″, and two small metal containers. The reattached
lid contains a round color depiction of the Holy Mother, a large crucifix, and an oval crucifix
behind glass mounted in a rectangular wood frame secured to the lid.

There is much mystery and uncertainty about the various vampire killing kits in existence
today. While some have clearly been assembled in the last 50 years as novelties, others
were made during a period in the 19th Century when there was a certain “vampire hysteria”,
largely as a result of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, but existing to some extent long before then.
While today most people might think of vampires as something from imagination, folklore,
and Hollywood, with no basis in fact, this was not the case in 19th Century Europe.
Whether they were ever used or not, vampire killing kits were actually assembled in the
19th C and were not intended merely as a curiosity. When Bram Stoker first wrote his
famous novel “Dracula” (released on May 26, 1897), it was not originally intended as a
work of fiction. His research began in the summer of 1890 and he was collecting
information on actual occurrences. In the original preface, which was published in “Makt
Myrkanna”, the Icelandic version of the story, Stoker included this passage: “I am quite
convinced that there is no doubt whatever that the events here described really took place,
however unbelievable and incomprehensible they might appear at first sight. And I am
further convinced that they must always remain to some extent incomprehensible.” He
also claimed that many of the characters in the novel were real people, some of whom
actually became his friends, whose testimonies he never doubted. However, when he
presented the original manuscript to his editor, Otto Kyllman, of Archibald Constable &
Company, it was returned with the single word “no”. Kyllman believed that with the recent
unsolved Whitechapel murders (of Jack the Ripper fame) its publication might lead to mass
hysteria. In order for the work to be published, many of the events would have to be
omitted and it would need to be rewritten and presented as a work of fiction. In the final
version the first 101 pages had been cut, many alterations had been made, and the
epilogue had been shortened, changing Dracula’s ultimate fate and that of his castle. For
more information see:
https://time.com/5411826/bram-stoker-dracula-history/

In 2019 a vampire kit appeared on the popular TV series “Pawn Stars” and ultimately sold
for $24,995. In 2004, Sotheby’s sold a Blomberg vampire kit for $26,400, although the
catalog cautioned that “Neither the existence of Professor Blomberg nor that of the
gunmaker Plomdeur can be confirmed. Also open to question is whether these kits were
ever employed successfully in the killing of vampires.” In 2011, an unsigned vampire-killing
kit, with 32 components including a map of Transylvania and no less than two crucifixes,
brought $25,000 at Sotheby’s. The Royal Armouries in Leeds (UK) has a vampire kit in its
collection. Whether such kits were actually assembled for their stated purpose or merely
curiosities, the fact is that many have sold for very large sums of money and they make
their own history even as I write this description. The person we acquired this kit from
initially offered us another kit obtained from his father-in-law who had been a “picker” back
in the 70’s and 80’s. We were unable to come to terms on price, but he eventually sold
that kit for $13,500 to a group of self-described “vampires” who said they were trying to rid
the world of such kits. He said he did not wish to offer them this kit because they “creeped
him out”