An odd piece of century-old South Carolina Gamecock history is being sold at auction

An unusual bit of South Carolina Gamecock history went up for auction this month, dating to an era when the campus was heated only by fireplaces.

The two 20th century fireplace andirons, featuring cast iron fighting gamecocks, were “recently discovered in a historic Kershaw, South Carolina home,” according to Wooten & Wooten Auctioneers in Camden.

“These are said to have been custom made to be used in fireplaces at the University of South Carolina’s Horseshoe buildings,” the company says in the auction description.

The auction went live Jan. 25 with bids starting at $250, according to LiveAuctioneers.com. The pair eventually sold for $1,800, more than double the expected price of $700.

The “horseshoe buildings” are the original 12 buildings of the university, which had a horseshoe shaped campus when established in 1801.

It’s believed the andirons up for auction were made in the early 1900s at a foundry Sumter, S.C. It’s not known how many pairs were made for the university, but at least two other sets have shown up at auction in recent years, including a similar style dated to the 1850s.

Wooten & Wooten sold a pair from a private collector in 2013 for $400, and it estimates they could go for nearly double that now.

However, Christie’s sold a set for $1,035 in June 1999, while the antique dealer Parc Monceau in Atlanta values them at about $2,150 range.

This story was originally published January 13, 2020 at 9:16 AM.