Orville and Emu have become embroiled in a legal row involving the widows of Keith Harris and Rod Hull.
The iconic puppets were initially put up for sale by the Bonhams auction house and had been expected to attract bids of up to £10,000 each, but those plans have now been put on hold after Keith’s widow Sarah Harris and Rod’s widow Cher Hylton-Hull insisted they are the rightful owners of the puppets.
According to Sarah and Cher, a merchandiser called Roger Shaw allegedly decided to auction the puppets after claiming he’d been gifted them by the late TV stars.
However, Sarah has disputed Roger’s version of events, instead claiming Orville had been loaned to him in order to make replica puppets that could be sold at venues.
Sarah – whose husband died of cancer in 2015, age 67 – told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "I had always presumed Orville had been returned to Keith’s management firm for safekeeping.
"With Keith’s illness and death, the true whereabouts never emerged.
"That was until I heard that Roger Shaw was selling our Orville at auction. I was totally shocked. You don’t give away part of your family. Keith and I felt that way about Orville."
Similarly, Cher claimed Emu had been loaned for a merchandising deal, and was shocked to see news of the auction.
She shared: "There is no way he’d have given Emu to him for keeps.
"And after Mr Shaw had made the small copies, we asked him to send the original to Rod’s agent at International Artists.
"I presumed this is what had happened, until I read about the Bonhams sale in December.
"I was totally taken aback and hurt. And since then, I’ve been demanding the return of Emu – with no success."
Cher – whose husband passed away in 1999 – insisted there’s "no way Rod would have let Roger Shaw hold on to his puppet".
She added: "The bird represented his life in comedy. It is beyond value. Now it’s trapped in captivity."