Bonhams to sell Brighton Engineerium Corliss steam engine

Bonhams auction house will be selling the "marvellous" Corliss and Wheelock engine next week.

Peter Fagg, chief engineer at Hove Engineerium (Image: Simon Dack)

It is housed at the British Engineerium in Hove, which closed to the public in 2006, and is said to be a "testament to the extraordinary industrial innovation of the 19th century". 

The engine took centre stage at the Engineerium, and has been professionaly maintained by a team of experts since it arrived at the museum in 1975.

The British Engineerium (Image: Contributor)

Bonhams specialist Joseph Robson said: “This horizontal steam engine characterises the synthesis of elegance and function that helped define the industrial period and beyond.

"Steam is admitted below the jacketed cylinder by a floor-mounted capstan main steam valve, of which there are very few examples in existence today."

Sasha Thomas, from Bonhams, admires the engine (Image: Simon Dack)

The engine was built in Lille by French manufacturer Crepelle et Garand.

It was awarded a "grand prix" at the World's Fair in 1889, before being put into working operation at Emile Roux hospital in Brevannes, south of Paris. It continued to operate until 1940, before it was excavated and moved to Hove in 1975.

A plaque on the side of the engine (Image: Simon Dack)

Joseph said:"Its prize-winning inclusion at the World’s Fair in Paris represents a high point in industrial design, alongside the Eiffel Tower which was completed and displayed at the same exhibition.

"This is an exceptional piece of engineering, which not only beautifully conjures the image of a bygone industrial era, but also maintains functionality after more than a century.”

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The Corliss engine is expected to reach up to £30,000 at the auction which is being held on February 7 and 8.

It will be exhibited at the Connoisseur’s Library Sale in Bonhams Knightsbridge, alongside an eclectic variety of furnishings, decorations and timepieces among other items.