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Patent Working Sample Beer Engine
A recent acquisition I could not resist, from an auction in Halifax - a late 19th century travelling salesman's patent working sample beer engine, beautifully engineered in mahogany and brass, with a lead drip tray. The plaque is stamped J. CORNEY PATENTEE AND MAKER H.X No 17068. Mechanically it is quite a complex design, and I am not entirely clear as to the function of the lever and the two on/off switches, but they do all work. At 17" tall and 3.5" wide, it is approximately 1/3rd scale size.
Unbeknown to me at the time, the auction was being televised (I was a telephone bidder). It was broadcast on "Dickinson's Real Deal" on ITV1 on 8 December 2009. The beer engine was actually shown and described by David Dickinson on the programme, and also featured as the competition item where the prize amount was based on the hammer price realised, which was then quadrupled.
When Mr Corney originally made this, the name of Andy Warhol would have meant nothing to him. He could scarcely have imagined that over a century later it would become the basis for his own 15 minutes of fame.
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