A quirky collection of 'fertility' carvings have gone for nearly £30,000 under the hammer.

The items, believed to have come from one of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific, were put up for auction in Folkestone earlier this month.

Some of the whale bone carvings shaped are shaped like genitalia and are believed to date back as far as the 18th century.

They were sold by Grand Auctions in Shearway Business Park for £29,350, but were only estimated to sell for between £800 and £1200.

Jonathan Riley from Grand Auctions said: "It is really surprising, because we did not have the hair stringing that makes them into a necklace, as they should be.

"They are particularly interesting because of their extreme rarity and quality of carving considering they had primitive tools."

Most examples of similar work are in museums and those sold have been known to fetch up to $300,000.

The Oceanic art was made up of carved whale bone pendant ornaments from a Rei necklace, which would have been suspended along a woven cord, typically made of human hair and coconut fibres.

There were eight items in the collection, with the longest piece being 4.8cm.

Many of the items in the series were carved in the shape of testicles, which led the auctioneers to believe they were fertility symbols.