A bidder from the Cotswolds bought an 18th century Australasian ceremonial totem for £16,000 at Stroud Auction Rooms on Thursday after bids were made from more than 50 countries.

The Sepik River ancestor figure, from Papua New Guinea, is one of only a few which have survived clan wars and the Oceanic climate.

Carved from tropical hardwood, it represents a powerful and dangerous ancestral being, usually associated with a clan ancestor or totemic animal.

“The price achieved was remarkable and possibly a record for this type of item,” Stroud Auction Rooms told the SNJ.

The figure was bought on May 6 by a vendor in the Cotswolds whose late husband was a collector of tribal figures, art and antiques.

Stroud Auction Rooms is a family business established in 2004, which has expanded to become one of the county’s leading salerooms.

It has one of the largest online bidding figures in the country, receiving around 2,500-3,500 bids against an industry average of fewer than 500.

This week they are auctioning a range of Italian and other double-barreled shotguns, a 1934 Morris 8 car and a violin worth between £15,000 and £20,000.