Tennants Auctioneers’ Toys, Models & Collectables Sale on 15th December is set to include a collection of bench seats with Leeds United interest. The vendor of the benches says: “While relocating my barber shop, I was looking to replace my waiting chairs with old style folding ones. Browsing online for cinema chairs I came across a local antiques shop selling some rusty and tatty chairs with a laminate plastic cover. I went to view them and was told that they were found in an old storage unit in a service pit used for servicing automobiles. They looked like they would clean up well, so I took up the challenge and bought a few. Stripping the plastic off uncovered lovely wooden seats and backs, on these backs were names. Until this point, I had not noticed the LUFC engravings on the cast iron bases due to the rust. Some of the chairs had names and one said Visiting Director. I protected these with masking tape. Manager Don Revie's name was revealed to me while removing tape from a chair, accidentally pulling off another name. Since being restored by myself they have featured in an Antiques Roadshow episode, radio and newspaper articles.” The benches will be sold in eight lots, including the set with Don Revie’s name, which carries an estimate of £2,000-3,000.
Elsewhere in the sale comes a good range of model locomotives, including gauge 1 models. Highlights include a Marklin Gauge 1 4-6-2 model of The Great Bear, Great Western 111, which is offered with an estimate of £1,500-2,000 (plus buyer’s premium). Live steam engines also feature prominently in the sale, with notable examples including a Mary Beam Engine made by C H Nichols in 1964 (estimate: £500-800).
