Celebrity

The British rock band's inflatable pig Algie has been withdrawn from Durrants auction after it was mistakenly placed on the British auction catalog.

Aug 31, 2015

AceShowbiz - Pink Floyd's iconic inflatable pig Algie, which can be seen on the front cover of the band's 1977 album "Animals", has been withdrawn from Durrants auction after it was mistakenly placed on the British auction catalog. Algie is now safely returned to the British rock band.

"The pig is going back to Pink Floyd. They want it home again," Rob Harries, the owner of props builder company Air Artists, told Reuters. Algie was previously listed as an item for sale after Air Artists provided the auction house with a full list of items they had. However, it is now listed as "withdrawn from sale" by the auction.

"We made a list of all the inflatables that we weren't going to store anymore ... and the auctioneers jumped the gun a bit and started publicizing the most iconic one," Harries added. "I felt I'd better talk to Pink Floyd, which I duly did and they duly wanted it back, unsurprisingly."

The inflatable pig previously got a "poor condition" rating on Durrants' catalog because it has a "big split." The tear is there because it previously landed in a farm scaring a pasture full of cows. However, it reportedly could be repaired. As it has now been returned to the group, "there's often lots of talk of a Pink Floyd exhibition," said Harries. "Maybe this will be a spur for it to happen."

The 40-foot inflatable item previously delayed flights at Heathrow airport after it broke free of its fastenings on top of Battersea Power Station in London during the photo shoot in 1976. Algie was taken away by the wind, and was later recovered by the rock band from a field in Kent. Therefore, the image of pig on the front cover of "Animals" is a composite of photographs.