#Folk #art #butchers #shop #cut #Antique #Collecting
A rare and sought-after Victorian display model of a butcher’s shop, marked with a maker’s label ‘FERNLEY, MAKER, LIMEHOUSE’, is going under the hammer in Guernsey auctioneers Martel Maides Auctions’ Fine Art, Antiques & Jewellery sale.
The intricate diorama depicts the shopfront of a traditional butcher’s, with workers holding the tools of their trade beneath a sign in gold letter that reads ‘Knowlden Family Butchers’. The shopfront also displays numerous cuts of meat hanging from hooks, and a royal warrant. It is carved in wood, plaster and with polychrome decoration. The entire model is displayed within a birdseye maple frame.
Auctioneer Guy Cooper commented: “These items are rare to market, and it is particularly remarkable to find one of this size, superb quality and condition. It is so visually beautiful it is hard to believe that it had such a practical purpose in its day. These displays were originally placed in a butcher’s shop window at the close of play when the meat was taken to be stored overnight. This piece was inherited by the vendor from his mother and was discovered on a routine valuation to a Guernsey farmhouse. It is a brilliant piece of social history but can also be seen as a piece of folk art in it’s own right.”
The sale takes place on November 21 and 22.
