Buyers, artists and others involved with the hugely popular Oor Wullie’s Big Bucket Trail have reacted to a “fantastic” first auction in Dundee.
Locals were thanked for their generosity after raising £239,000 for the Archie Foundation at the city’s Rep Theatre on Monday night as all the Dundee sculptures, plus those from Perth and St Andrews, were sold off.
The highest grossing statue was Full o’Beans at £16,000. It was designed by local artist Suzanne Scott and spent the summer on display at Discovery Point.
The money raised in Dundee is going towards a new twin operating theatre suite for children at Ninewells Hospital.
Auctions are also taking place in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh this week as the Scotland-wide art trail comes to its conclusion.
The Oor Rabbie statue was purchased by the management at Dundee’s Scott Brothers Butchers.
Co-owner Scott Jarron said the artwork will be “on tour” around their sites on the Nethergate, Strathmartine Road and Broughty Ferry.
He added the Robbie Burns-themed piece “might just help us sell a bit more haggis in January”.
He said: “Delighted to have donated this money. It’s a great foundation. I’m very delighted to have been part of this.”
IN FULL: The 39 Oor Wullie statues from Dundee and Tayside – and what they went for at auction
Sandy Wilkie travelled all the way to Dundee from Port Appin, Argyll, to purchase the Peace of Mind statue.
He said: “I thought it was quite funky and I’m really please to get it, and more importantly to make sure the Archie Foundation get some money towards the good work they do.”
He hopes to establish the artwork “somewhere in Argyll”.
Stephen Bain of MHA Henderson Loggie, which purchased the Bronze Boy Oor Wullie, said: “We had our eye on a few tonight and that was top of our list so we’re quite pleased to get that one.
“We’ll probably put it in our Dundee office to begin with but we’ve got other offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow so we plan to tour it around the country (and) show the staff, show clients when they come in.”
