It is the nature of our business here at Posterity that fairly large volumes of stock come and go throughout the year and sometimes pass through the yard almost without a second glance.

An impulse purchase can sometimes sell almost before its been unloaded on return to the shop from various local auction houses without giving the staff time to date and appraise it properly.

It was a surprise then to discover that at first glance a fairly run of the mill Tudor revival turn of the last century oak hallstand had a pleasant surprise to disclose on closer inspection.

We know that the reclamation of timber is not a new industry, lots of half timbered property bears witness to the fact that de-commissioned ships timbers have been re utilised in the frames of houses for centuries and it is often the case that doors that we sell here have been used in various different ways over and over again.

Whoever manufactured the hall stand had access to timber panels from a much earlier period. We have had the carved dragons dated to the reign of Henry V11, thats around the year 1500!

Remarkable then that these extraordinary carved dragons have survived all this time and been re-used in such a way that they come to our attention 500 years or so later.

The dragons have now been released from their incarceration in the hallstand and will probably be offered for sale at an appropriate auction in the near future but for now they will be on display in the gallery at Posterity for anyone interested in having a look, until the end of September.