Hundreds of products from the former Thomas Crapper museum are up for auction, including toilets, basins, baths, and even a wartime potty with a picture of Adolf Hitler’s face on it.
Assembled by Simon Kirby, the former owner of heritage bathroom brand Thomas Crapper, this collection contains over 1,200 items ranging in origin from the 1830s to the 1960s.
The collection used to be part of a private museum at the company, and took roughly 40 years to accumulate. Kirby left Thomas Crapper eight years ago, and says that he “cannot justify” keeping the collection now.
As well as its Thomas Crapper products, the collection also features highlights from many other legendary bathroom brands, including George Jennings, Twyfords, Shanks & Co. and Royal Doulton.
Salvo, a Staffordshire-based architectural salvage firm, has been asked to help re-home the collection to preserve its future. Anyone flush with cash can buy the whole collection themselves, for the price of £300,000. However, Kirby has also invited potential buyers to register their interest in individual items, if the museum does unfortunately have to be split up.
Salvo also produced a “never-before-seen” video tour of the collection, which explores some of the more unique items that make up the museum’s exhibits.
Of the Hitler potty specifically, Kirby said that it was the only one of its kind he had ever seen in person. “A bit of fun like this would have raised morale”, he added.
Kirby believes that the time is right for the collection to be enjoyed by the public, saying: “These pieces are now so rare, the collection could not be assembled today. I no longer run a Victorian sanitaryware company, so I cannot justify keeping the private museum.
“It would be very nice if somebody bought the whole lot and kept it all together as a collection. A lot of people have impressed on me how strongly they feel that it should be kept together.
“I’m a little bit more ambivalent though. The trade haven’t come across items of this quality and this condition for a long time, so it would be nice in a way if the public had the opportunity to buy things like this again.
“Obviously, everything’s got to be saved, but I hope that another company might buy it for their museum.”
Sara Morel, CEO of Salvo, also said: “Touring the private museum was fun, insightful, and a privilege. As the video shows, each piece holds stories that must be saved and shared.
“Salvo has continuously encouraged reuse to reduce the amount of architectural salvage that is downcycled or destroyed, so we were asked to help promote and rehome the Crapper Collection to preserve its future.”
The collection is currently listed here, on Salvo.
