Complete Victorian pharmacist's shop up for auction
A complete Victorian pharmacist's shop which was dismantled and rebuilt in a period town house is going under the hammer in Gloucestershire.Described as the UK's largest private collection of antique apothecary items, it was amassed over several decades by Darrin Baines, a professor of health economics.The "time capsule" pharmacy along with hundreds of Georgian and Victorian apothecary objects were crammed in to two floors of his house in Herefordshire, but now he is selling up and moving.Mr Baines, said: "It became a bit obsessive - I thought: 'I need to find a big pharmacy shop' and I did and so I built a museum in my house."
Mr Baines, who has been collecting antique apothecary curios since 2000, said it was only in the last 10 to 15 years after moving to a larger house that he was able to fully indulge his passion."It allowed me to collect bigger items like whole pharmacy shops and big racks of pharmacy drawers and bottles," he said."There were two floors in my house that were basically a pharmacy museum. I always planned to show the world but always thought I needed something else before I could show it."
Dating from the 1880s, the complete Victorian pharmacy shop was relocated to his house in Leominster in Herefordshire from Norfolk."I found [it] in Upwell in the Fens, it had been in the same family for 150 years," he said."I went with a carpenter and a friend, and dismantled the shop myself, and when we took one of the really big cabinets out, the ceiling fell on us because it was holding the ceiling up."Now after selling his house, his entire collection is due to be auctioned at the Cotswold Auction Company between 24 and 25 June.But Mr Baines said he "won't miss" the collection but hopes it goes to a museum, an institution or the "right person"."I've downsized so I'm moving to a smaller collection," he said."A pharmacy collection is a massive thing so I might collect matchboxes or something smaller again, like pins or badge lapels instead."
Along with the complete pharmacist's shop the collection also includes, a large mahogany display cabinet advertising blood purifier pills, a large quantity of apothecary drawers and jars, and two large mortar and pestles.Other highlights include a rare glass hanging carboy, numerous glass pharmacy signs, and a near complete set of Chemist and Druggist books.Auctioneer Lindsey Braune, said the collection is "truly remarkable"."The collection is so extensive it is occupying a large section of our Cirencester saleroom," she said."This was clearly a labour of love, and we hope these fascinating objects find an equally loving new home."
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