A commemorative Eisteddfod horn presented to Abergavenny Eisteddfod in 1840 by Sir Joshua Walmsley when he was Mayor of Liverpool is on its way home after being bought by the town's museum
The keenly contested Eisteddfod horn doubled its pre-sale estimate when selling for £900 to Abergavenny Museum at a sale of antique furniture, ceramics and works of art at Halls in Shrewsbury. The auction house received three telephone bids for the horn.
It's believed that Sir Joshua's connection with the Abergavenny Eisteddfod may have been via Sir Benjamin Hall, MP who with his wife Lady Llanover sponsored Y Fenni Eisteddfodau between 1834-'53.
The couple offered very substantial prizes, sometimes as much as 80 guineas and attracted some of the greatest European Celtic scholars, as well as major Welsh literary figures of the day.
The horn was featured in The Abergavenny Chronicle several weeks ago when it was originally entered into the sale.