An antique table rescued from a skip in Welshpool, Powys, has sold at auction for £40,000!
The table was pulled from the hire skip after being dumped during a house clearance. To the untrained eye, it could easily be passed over as just another cheap example of replica Edwardian furniture. But when Jeremy Lamond, Fine Art Director at Halls Auctioneers, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, spotted it, “My heart skipped a beat,” he said – hilariously.
Instantly recognising the brass fittings on the table, Mr Lamond named it as a very rare example of work produced by 19th century architect Edward William Godwin.
Once underway, the auction was contested by three telephone bidders. Eventually, it sold to a specialist dealer in London. The family who had tried to dispose of the table are said to be delighted with the price it sold for. As is Mr Lamond, “In terms of significant discoveries during my career, this table has got to be right up there in the top 10 because it is so rare.”
Indeed, so unusual is this piece that the only other examples of its type are to be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Trust's Ellen Terry Memorial Museum at Smallhythe Place, Kent.
When asked about dumping antiques, Mr Lamond said, “People have nothing to lose and everything to gain from getting a professional valuation.”
So take heed. Check those skips before you consign them to the landfill. If you bury £40,000 worth of rare walnut loveliness, you’ve only got yourself to blame.
