295 An extremely rare Hardy 1894/5 Transitional Brass Perfect 5” salmon fly reel,

large domed ivory handle, waisted brass bridge foot, quadruple nickel silver drum pillars, strapped rim tension screw and early calliper spring check mechanism, open ball race with phosphor bronze bearings, slightly dished drum with three bands of large and small perforations and milled nickel silver retaining screw, faceplate stamped Rod in Hand trade mark, enclosed oval and straight line logos and block engraved  previous owners details “J.B. Taylor No.3” (see detail below), reel retains much of the original dark bronze patina and is one of the rarest sizes in the Brass Perfect range of reels, in un-named block leather case, circa 1895 (see illustration) £6000-9000