By Margaret Crosby

Published at 11:05, Thursday, 05 January 2012

JUST in time for 2012 Olympics, The Beacon is delighted to have secured a rare memento of a little-known sport.

auctioned: The Whitehaven Pottery carpet bowl

The 19th century pottery carpet bowl, which went up for auction at Mitchell’s of Cockermouth in early December, bears a transfer similar to the Whitehaven darning eggs, of which The Beacon holds three in its collection.

Owned by a family who previously resided in Whitehaven before moving overseas, this rare and interesting piece of ceramic could have been lost to an overseas private collector if it had not been secured for a hammer price of £850 by The Beacon and Friends of the Museum for the Copeland Museum Collection.

Ben White, Beacon curator, said: “This is an incredibly important piece of Whitehaven’s social history and we are very pleased to have kept it in Copeland.”

The carpet bowl will go on public display in The Beacon’s reception area from January 9 before being moved into the museum’s permanent display of Whitehaven pottery.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk