Showstopping workable fairy-tale carriage up for auction at guide price £4,000-6,000

A showstopping Cinderella carriage created by a Maidenhead man running an award-winning special effects company in Dubai is set for auction in Windsor this weekend.

The carriage was made to promote the production of Cinderella showing at the Theatre Royal Windsor last year.

It was the brainchild of special effects supervisor Duncan Capp, who grew up in Maidenhead and now lives in Dubai.

There, he established the now Guinness-World-Record-holding IFX (International Special Effects), which purports to be ‘the biggest SFX company in the Middle East’.

It supplies explosions, pyrotechnics, motion control and other effects for feature films, TV and events. As such, Duncan has Batman Begins and Band of Brothers among his movie credits.

Having visited Theatre Royal with his family to see its pantomimes for the past few years, Duncan asked whether there was anything he could do to help support it.

The carriage installation was the result, displayed on top of the flat canopy at the entrance of the Theatre Royal.

It features Cinderella and three colourful mouse coachmen, whose faces were created on 3D printers and hand-painted in Dubai before being brought over to England by Duncan.

The carriage cost £20,000 to build, with the dress itself – an actual engagement dress – costing £1,000. It is upholstered inside, has gold inlay and 60m of fairy lights.

It’s not just a static showpiece, either – it is a fully functioning three-quarter-sized pony carriage.

Cinderella’s carriage was installed at Theatre Royal in early November, where ‘it drew lots of admirers’ over the festive period, according to staff.

However, the theatre had building work starting immediately after panto season, so the carriage had to be removed.

Duncan’s team loaded it onto a trailer and drove it to Windsor Auctions in the Vansittart Estate, with two men pushing the working carriage up the slope to the auction house.

It now awaits auction this weekend, alongside more than 730 other lots as part of an ‘antiques, collectables and interiors’ sale.

Windsor Auctions picks up a few impressive pieces like this – it also had a large replica of the Starbug space shuttle from Red Dwarf which attracted a lot of attention, as well as raising thousands of pounds for Cancer Research UK.

Harry Ballin, founder and auctioneer at Windsor Auctions, said of the carriage: “It’s so big, so impressive and so well-made.

“I’m hoping another theatre will buy it, that it stays within the theatre community.

“But [perhaps] somebody wants an Instagram-ready item in their garden. We’re in a time where people just love that sort of stuff.”

Theatre Royal says it hopes the carriage will find a new home ‘where it will be equally admired and appreciated as it was at the theatre.’

The auction is taking place on January 30-31 (Friday, and Saturday), from 10.30am on both days. Online, phone-in and in-person bidding will all be available.

This carriage can be found under lot 553 and its guide price is £4,000-£6,000.

See more or register to bid at auctions.windsorauctions.co.uk/auctions/9530/windso10275