Mary Seacole: £101,000 Auctioned Statue To Appear In Film

A bust of Mary Seacole that sold in a "nail-biting" auction is set to appear in an upcoming film about her work during the Crimean War.

The 30cm-high terracotta half bust sold for £101,000 - more than 100 times its estimated sale price, when it went under the hammer in Gloucestershire on Thursday.

The winner of the auction, Billy Peterson, producer and owner of Racing Green Pictures, has promised the statue will now go on to feature in their upcoming film, 'Seacole'.

“I am beyond excited that Racing Green Pictures has won the bid for the exquisite piece," he said. 

"We are mid-way [through] shooting 'Seacole', a film about Mary’s life in the Crimean War and will certainly feature this bust in the film."

With the remaining filming set in the UK due to begin in Autumn, Mr Peterson added that once completed, the statue will spend some time on display in London.

Seacole, the daughter of a Scottish soldier and Jamaican mother, was born in 1805 and rivalled Florence Nightingale for her feats during the Crimean War.

She first applied to go to Crimea as a nurse to treat troops wounded in battle but was turned down.

Undeterred, she funded her own journey to help and remained in Crimea until 1856.

She died in 1881 and was voted 'Greatest Black Briton' in an online poll in 2004.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw will play Seacole in the upcoming historical drama which focuses on the period of the nurse's life following the death of her husband in 1844.

The bust, modelled in 1871, features her war medals which she gained for her distinguished service during the Crimean War.