When the congregation of St. Matthias voted to leave the Anglican Church of Canada and join ANiC, they left behind more than the building: two armchairs worth between $180,000 and $250,000 were also abandoned.
The rector of the 30 or so people who remained in the Diocese of BC, Rev. Robert Arril, is rubbing his hands in glee, since the sale of the chairs will enable him “to carry on the work we do”: subverting the Gospel.
St. Hilda’s Church in Oakville also has hidden treasures generously donated by the ANiC congregation that vacated the premises in June. If the Diocese of Niagara searches diligently, it will uncover an antique sump pump secreted in a hole in the basement: it doesn’t pump that well – if at all – but it is a fine early example of F. E. Myers engineering and, as such, could fetch a few needed dollars for the impoverished Niagara coffers.
From here:
They’d been there, in a quiet spot along the back wall of Victoria’s St. Matthias Anglican Church, for decades — possibly since the parish opened the doors of its new home in the B.C. capital nearly 50 years ago.
But two elegantly designed wooden armchairs, their origin unknown to clergy or even the eldest members of the congregation, may prove to be the salvation of the financially-challenged church — nothing less than a “godsend,” according to St. Matthias’s rector, Rev. Robert Arril.
An antique-furniture buff’s fortuitous visit to the church two years ago for a Bible study session has led to the identification of the chairs as rare and valuable Qing dynasty treasures, expertly crafted in 17th-century China before making their way somehow — thanks to a long-forgotten donor evidently unaware of their significance — to the Vancouver Island parish.
Now, a church, which has struggled to survive since a damaging schism over same-sex marriage in 2009, is poised for a potential windfall when the chairs are auctioned next month in New York, where Sotheby’s expects the matching set to fetch as much as a quarter of a million dollars at a Sept. 11 sale of Chinese ceramics and works of art.
“It’s a remarkable discovery — such a fantastic turn of events,” Arril told Postmedia News. “It’s very significant for us as a struggling congregation, very meaningful. It will allow us to carry on the work we do.”
[….]
The two-chair set has an estimated value of between $180,000 and $250,000 US, according to Sotheby’s. A similar pair of 17th-century chairs from China sold earlier this year at a Christie’s auction in Hong Kong for $282,000.
