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Search forDerbyshire prankster's "dead fairies" go on sale at Sadler Gate art gallery
Tuesday, September 09, 2008, 08:30
Dan Baines, 33, first hit the headlines in April last year, when he offered for sale what he claimed were the mummified remains of a dead fairy on an internet website.
News of the unusual item, which sold for £280, soon spread and sparked media interest from America, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa.
But when the Evening Telegraph tracked down Mr Baines days later, he admitted making the model as part of an April Fool prank.
Since then, he has created more models and has taken them to the US, where art galleries in New York, Las Vegas, Chicago and have been selling the tiny sculptures for up to £500.
Mr Baines, who moved from Derby in 2002 to work for a law firm in London, is now putting his work on sale at The Fine Art Gallery, in Sadler Gate.
He said: "Everything I've sold has gone to the States and now I'm looking to go full circle and get back into the UK market. Since the April Fool's prank, I've had thousands of e-mails from all over the world but it doesn't seem to have been so huge over here in Britain."
The Derby gallery is displaying three fairies models, made from a variety of plastic, metal and insect parts. They are on sale for between £325 and £500.
Mr Baines said: "The sculptures are quite gruesome. The fairies are not pretty with long, blonde hair, like many people tend to think of them as.
"The wings are made from real insects and some people in America are insistent that they are real, which has contributed a lot to their success over there.
"Some people do actually believe fairies are real and in America there's a bigger market over there for gothic, Victorian sculptures. But in Britain, people are not so fussed.
Gary Newton, co-runner of The Fine Art Gallery, said he hoped the eerie models would attract more people to his business.
He said: "They're exceedingly realistic and quite sinister. It's something that is completely different from a collector's point of view – they look very bizarre."
He said customers would be told the models were fake but he expected some to still believe they were real.
Mr Baines believes the success of the fairies in other countries across the world will help to spark greater interest in the UK market. He said: "I'm hoping to take advantage of Derbyshire's fairy folklore."
To view pictures of the fake fairies, visit www.lebanoncircle.co.uk.
make-believe: Dan Baines with one of his creations, which is set to go on sale in Derby after causing a stir last year. Inset, how we reported the story.
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