Record Price for Butcher's Shop Model

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.