£1,400 for a lemon? That’ll make you wince!
IT is not what usually springs to mind when you hear the words ‘preserved lemon’ – but it’s certainly proof of the fruit’s remarkable shelf life.
A dried-out 285-year-old lemon has sold for £1,400 at auction after sparking an unlikely bidding war.
the ancient citrus fruit, which is covered in inscriptions, was discovered in the bottom drawer of a 19th-century chest during a house clear-out. the owners were sorting through their uncle’s possessions and thought an old cabinet might have been valuable, so took it to an auctioneer, who found the lemon inside.
An inscription states that the fruit was ‘given by Mr P Lu Franchini Nov 4 1739 to Miss E Baxter’ – possibly as a love token.
the two-inch-wide lemon is brown and dried out but ‘remarkably well preserved’ and maintaining its shape, the vendors said. Since it was so unusual, they added it to the auction for a bit of fun with an estimated price of £40 to £60.
But, to their astonishment, there were 35 bids, with a British collector winning out.
there was a round of applause in the room when the hammer went down at £1,100, with fees taking the final figure to £1,416 at auctioneers Brettells, of Newport, Shropshire.
It meant the lemon was worth nearly 50 times the price of the cabinet, which sold for just £32. Auctioneer David Brettell said: ‘the lemon arrived in an ordinary late 19th-century Chinese collectors chest. It was right at the back of one of the drawers so we took it out. Who knows how long it had been in there for, but I suppose it is not something you would have ever taken out.’
He believes the fruit was brought to Britain from colonial India in the 18th century.
‘We thought we would have a bit of fun and put it in the auction with an estimate of £40 to £60.
‘the bidding started at £40 but suddenly it ramped up to £340, then £440 and higher.
‘By the time we got to £700, there were two bidders battling it out. there was a round of applause when the hammer went down at £1,100.
‘I was telling them that you are never going to see an object like this at auction again. It is completely unique.’