Once in a blue moon these beautiful moulds come to the market. Friday was such a day.

As soon as I discovered they were up for sale I jumped in my car and headed London way. This small selection is part of my  initial purchase, chosen for their commercial value not to mention their beauty.

Arriving at the sellers property, my heart was already pounding with anticipation. So imagine how I felt when the door opened and over 600 moulds lay before my eyes, some cleaned and carefully arranged on a table,

while others covered in 15 years of dust, were stacked in large buckets waiting to be rescued.

Filled with mixed emotions, the heavenly pleasure of being surrounded by hundreds of exquisitely carved forms ; egg & dart, guilloche, acanthus, ribbon twists, scrolling foliage, pea and bullet, dentil.

You name it, it lay in front of me or hiding away, waiting to be uncovered.

But the sheer hell of knowing I had to choose just an arm full to take away.

Two hours later I had edited my selection down to 25. these are pictured below.

Any kind Benefactor out there wishing to help me save these moulds from decorators and dealers

who would hang them on a wall just "cos they'll look good" please get intouch.