Merseyside, UK - A 10ft high by 16ft wide marble chimneypiece in the Renaissance or Tudorbethan taste which failed to sell on eBay on Wednesday originally came from the dining room of Dawpool Manor (demolished with explosives in 1927), the mansion built by Victorian Arts & Crafts architect Norman Shaw for the founder of the White Star line, Thomas Ismay, in Thurstaston on the Wirral, from where he could look out to sea and view his ocean liners coming and going from their home port of Liverpool.

When Dawpool Manor was demolished the large inglenook-style fireplace was relocated and ended up in a cabaret restaurant called Kingsland in Birkenhead where it appears still to be in-situ.

The monumental marble fireplace may have been designed by Norman Shaw or possibly by Aldam Heaton, both of whom were used by Ismay in the decoration of White Star ships such as the Oceanic, as well as Dawpool Manor.

On Twitter, the Victorian Society called for the fireplace to be bought for relocation to a museum in the Liverpool area.

An opening bid of £20,000 was requested on eBay but by the end of the auction on Wednesday no bids appear to have been made.

eBay: Huge historic vintage fireplace - Ismay Titanic
GoogleMaps Streetview: Kingsland Cabaret

Story Type:  News

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