£10,000 - £20,000
± W.C. White Dispensing Chemist The shop interior with all fittings and fixtures THE SHOP CONTENTS FIXTURES AND FITTINGS This fascinating Victorian Time Capsule is William White's Chemist Shop, that was discovered in a Somerset village in 1987. It had been entombed for eighty years. William White practised his profession in this shop from the year 1880 until his death in 1909. At that time all the paraphernalia that you see here was locked away, probably by his son, who, not being a qualified chemist, could not have continued the business. The presence of the sealed room went unsuspected by the outside world until the death, in old age, of the second of two spinster sisters, Margaret and Evelyn, grand daughters of William, who had lived-out their long lives on the premises. The property was to be sold. It was the end of 107 years occupancy by the White family. It was also the end of an era. It was only then that the locked door was opened to relinquish its secret to the probing beam of a torch - and an astonished auctioneer! News of the discovery soon captured the imagination of the whole country. The shop fitments and all the stock you see here, were auctioned shortly afterwards, and bought on a telephone bid by Flambards, for their permanent preservation here. We discovered, as we came to examine all the artifacts, that William White though primarily a chemist, also dealt to some degree in groceries - especially tea - and in tobacco-wines and spirits-not at all unusual in a village environment in Victorian times. We present this shop in a state as close as possible to that in which it was found - cobwebs and all. We trust that this is how you would choose to see it - as the TIME CAPSULE it certainly is. - This lot will be subject to an additional VAT charge of 20% on the hammer price
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