Clock bought once for £33 could fetch £6k

 

Once bought from a Welshpool retailer for £33, the oak crossbanded mahogany combined clock cupboard is expected to fetch £6,000 at auction tomorrow (Tuesday) in Shrewsbury.

 

The piece has a 17-inch enamel clock face, which is signed ‘Hay, Shrewsbury’ and is believed to be the work of clock and watchmaker Thomas William Hay (1822-’56). A label inside the cupboard’s trunk states ‘Bought off Andrew and Son, Cabinet Makers and Upholsterers, High Street, Welshpool, December 4th, oak kitchen piece, country style £33’. The label does not include the year of sale but it is thought to have been in the mid-19^th century which, in those days, made it a very valuable item!

 

Andrew Beeston, senior auctioneer and valuer at Shrewsbury fine art auction house Halls, believes the 248cm wide and 269cm high cupboard, may have been made using oak from the Powis Estate near Welshpool.

 

It has been entered in Halls’ auction of antique furniture, ceramics and works of art at the Welsh Bridge saleroom, Shrewsbury by a Welsh border vendor, who has also consigned a Montgomeryshire oak dresser, valued at up to £2,500.

   

“The Welsh borders are proving to be a very fruitful hunting ground for country and vernacular furniture for Halls’ auctions,” said Mr Beeston.

   

The lots will be available for viewing at the Welsh Bridge saleroom on Monday from 9.30am to 8pm, today (Tuesday) and on the morning of the auction. The auction catalogue is also available online at www.hallsgb.com/fine-art.