Windfall for Vancouver Island parish: The Church of England Newspaper, September 20, 2012

A cash strapped Canadian parish has received a windfall after auctioning two antique Chinese armchairs found in the parish hall. On 11 Sept 2012 St. Matthias Anglican Church in Victoria, British Columbia sold a pair of 300-year-old Qing dynasty “huanghuali yokeback armchairs” at auction at Sotheby’s in New York for £400,000.

The chairs had been given to St. Matthias at some time in the church’s history, but their provenance is unknown. An antiques buff attending a Bible study in the parish hall noticed the chairs and recommended they be appraised.

The sale comes at a fortuitous time for St. Matthias as in 2009 approximately 95 per cent of the church’s members quit the diocese to join the Anglican Church in North America. The 30 parishioners left at St. Matthias had been unable to maintain the property or support the church’s ministry. Their discovery was a “godsend” said the rector, the Rev. Robert Arril, and would allow the church to carry on.

First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.