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Record Price for Butcher's Shop Model
04 Apr, 2012
A Victorian home-made model of an East End butcher's shop
sold at our Clocks, Furniture & Works of Arts sale on 3rd April
2012 for £22,000, believed to be the highest price ever achieved
for such a piece.
Used to advertise Fernley Family Butchers of Limehouse,
London, the 3-foot wide model would have been displayed in the shop
window once the produce had been put away in cold storage for the
night.
The model's fine detail, from animal carcasses in the shop
to lace curtains in the windows above, had generated great interest
from institutions and international collectors. On the day of the
sale, a battle between a phone bidder and buyer in the room, saw
the hammer fall at £22,000. The purchaser was the ancient London
livery company The Worshipful Company of Butchers.
Furniture specialist Will Hobbs said:
"We are delighted for the vendor. We knew it was a
particularly fine example that would appeal to collectors, but
we're not aware of a model of this type fetching such a price
before. We're thrilled it's going to such a fitting
home."
The model was made from wood and plaster by the butcher's
son, who was the great-great grandfather of the vendor. The model
had remained in the family since it was made, and was displayed in
the V & A Museum of Childhood for 30 years.
