Rare Victorian centrepiece bought for £25 in Walsall decades ago sells for thousands at auction
A rare Victorian centrepiece which was bought for £25 decades ago and used to store tights in has sold for thousands of pounds at auction.
In 1950 factory worker Anne Pincher bought the ‘Shell Flower Bearers’ exhibition piece made by Minton & Co, of Stoke-on-Trent, in circa 1875.
Measuring a whopping 99cm wide, it’s modelled as two mermaids supporting a scallop shell.
The 150-year-old antique used to take pride of place in Anne’s front room in Darlaston – but later stored tights and bric-a-brac on her landing.
It sparked a bidding battle at Hansons Auctioneers’ Derbyshire saleroom on Thursday and sold to a private UK buyer for a premium-inclusive total of £6,560 (£5,000 hammer price).
Gillian Finney, connoisseur ceramics consultant at Hansons, said: “I’m delighted this Minton majolica marvel achieved the price it deserved. It’s extremely rare.
"The design is listed in the 1871 Art Journal and a similar example was displayed at London’s Victoria and Albert Exhibition in 1873.
