Banbury: Sparse Christmas tree sells for 'astonishing' fee

The tree is a reminder that Christmas does not require extravagance, auctioneers said

A sparse vintage Christmas tree has sold at auction for £2,600, well above its list price of £60 to £80.

The modest tree, with just 25 branches, was gifted in 1920 to Dorothy Grant who kept it until she died in 2014.

Her daughter, Shirley Hall, 84, said she was selling the 31in (79cm) tree as a "humble reminder of 1920s life".

Hansons Auctioneers, in Banbury, Oxfordshire, said it was an "astonishing" price for "the humblest Christmas tree in the world".

Dorothy Grant, pictured at the age of 21 in 1933

The firm's owner, Charles Hanson, said the tree would have been bought for a few pence, probably from a London department store.

He said: "It reminds us that extravagance and excess are not required to capture the spirit of Christmas.

"It survives as a reminder of 1920s life - a boom-to-bust decade.

"The Roaring Twenties saw major advances in science and technology. But the decade also brought the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression."

Mrs Grant's daughter, Shirley Hall, said the tree was a "humble reminder of 1920s life"

Mrs Grant, who was given the tree when she was eight years old and living in Loughborough, Leicestershire, kept it until she died at the age of 101.

She decorated it economically, using cotton wool to mimic snow, the auctioneers said.

An anonymous UK buyer paid £3,411, including fees and tax, at the auction earlier.

Similar trees have attracted winning bids of £150 and £420 in recent years, Mr Hanson said.

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