Two years ago, we got a call in the office from Salford Magistrates\u2019 Court. They told me that deep underground in the cellars of the building were the original 19th-century wrought-iron racking systems, and they wanted to know if we would be interested in buying them. We were there like a shot.<\/p>\n
It was a glorious summer and my team spent two months underground sweltering in what would have once been cells for prisoners. We could even see the tracks that had been made to bring the prisoners in by horse-drawn carriage on the solid stone floors. Weeks went by. The atmosphere of the cells was unrelenting.<\/p>\n
You might also like<\/strong> Antiques Roadshow best finds according to the experts<\/a><\/p>\n Some of my guys started to joke, \u2018Don\u2019t send me down there again, Drew!\u2019 but we reclaimed 70 exceptional antique racks and they all sold immediately to major design houses and international interior decorators. We all pitched in until we could take no more. It was a great antique find \u2013 but it wasn\u2019t the real treasure we unearthed in Salford.<\/p>\n On our way down into the cellars each day we saw a huge steel box that appeared to be part of the staircase. I mostly ignored it, just tapping it every now and then, wondering what it was. Then one day I said, \u2018Let\u2019s drag this out,\u2019 to Gavin, one of my chaps, but we instantly got pulled on to something more urgent.<\/p>\n The next day, I heard Gav shout for me. He had finally opened the box and, when I reached him, he was stood, aghast, in front of a 6ft-tall coat of arms wrapped in horse hair and straw (pictured below). It dated from the 1860s and was a thing of absolute beauty. We discovered that it had been made for the main court\u2019s wall when the court was built but had never been fitted. We couldn\u2019t believe the craftsmanship of the thing, its scale and the mint condition it was in.<\/p>\n Back at our warehouse, we pulled the heraldic bearings out of the crate, cleaned them all down and put a light air line on them to blow the dust off. We replaced all of the original straw and horsehair wrapping and put it in its original thick, heavy crate, for sale at the concession we had at Liberty. It was a serious piece \u2013 with a price tag to match.<\/p>\n Y0u might also like<\/strong> where to shop for antiques according to experts<\/a><\/p>\n It sold to Liberty\u2019s biggest American client, who shipped it to the US to display in one of his homes. Funnily enough, he was so happy with it, he called us and asked for a second example for another one of his houses, as if such things were available on tap!<\/p>\n It\u2019s that sense of excitement when you stumble across something astounding and unexpected that keeps me fascinated in antiques. It\u2019s spine-tingling when you walk into a country house and you know how old or rare a piece is, and it\u2019s not been touched for years. Pieces are becoming much harder to find in their original settings but through auctions or even the internet, a long-forgotten item of furniture can give you the same feeling.<\/p>\n Some people might say that it was a shame that the coat of arms left Salford and travelled overseas. But someone is enjoying it and looking after it, they know its provenance and they have a responsibility to pass that on, to make someone else tingle when they discover an unlikely antique, a million miles from its original home.<\/p>\n How I got into the antiques trade<\/a><\/p>\n Drew Pritchard\u2019s sofa collection with Barker and Stonehouse<\/a><\/p>\n Why patina is king<\/a><\/p>\n How to create country house style<\/a><\/p>\n How to be a successful antiques dealer<\/a><\/p>\n Why I love industrial design<\/a><\/p>\n The antique that got away<\/a><\/p>\n Drew\u2019s best antique finds<\/a><\/p>\n Must-find garden antiques<\/a><\/p>\n![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/19\/2016\/05\/crest-835c3d3.jpg?quality=90&resize=1000%2C797"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nMore from Drew Pritchard:<\/h2>\n