28 February 2008

Ed Povey's Mural For sale on EBAY!!!!

Following our Exclusive first report on the Ed Povey Mural. We have been contacted by the advertiser with the facts.

Following our article Mr Thomas contacted Caernarfon Online with his side of the story and told us that all the media had got it wrong. He explained how First of all Papur Dre had got the story wrong about the ownership of the wall, and how the Daily Post and Caernarfon Online got it wrong with our reporting. This is what he had to say:

We had emailed the seller on EBAY to ask exactly what was for sale and that it would be a shame if it was lost to the town. (Here is his reply:

Dear CaernarfonOnline,

Hello, thank you for your interest, it is the mural itself that is on sale, this will not affect the building whatsoever as the original building wall is actually behind the painting, it has been valued at a substantial amount and we are currently in talks with a collector from the U.S, a meeting will be held soon to determine the fate of the mural, all correspondents regarding this matter should be directed to 24 Bangor St, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL551AT
I too feel that it should remain within the town but it is a pity that such a lovely mural is going to waste by us (the people of Caernarfon) by letting it just fade away and also it's really sad that people are only starting to appreciate and admire it now that it has a price tag, if we don't do something about it soon Caernarfon will just continue to watch this amazing mural disappear. I'd much rather it went to someone that would maintain it and keep it going, after all it is a part of the local history.
regards

Mr Thomas

Mr Thomas then contacted us again with this message:

Dear CaernarfonOnline,

I was looking at C'fon website and saw that my listing is on your front page!

I assure you that I am the genuine owner and Mel (or Mel's Brides) wont be opening her shop one day and finding a wall missing! (although that would be funny). I'm not the sort to go online and this is the first time I have traded on EBAY, hence the new account, as for the lady showing interest,I also can assure you that to my knowledge she is genuine, please feel free to contact her for further information. It does not state the mural is in Porthmadog, it just states the seller is from there. I haven't given my proper contact details live on EBAY as I don't want time wasters contacting me. If you would like more info please do get in touch as I have nothing to hide, what is it with people these days? Why don't they take things seriously? Papur Dre stated that we do not even own the mural and that what started all this! God know's how they came up with that as it's on my building/wall!

Mr Thomas

So we took up Mr Thomas on his offer to call him and he indeed was very pleasant and had nothing to hide. He explained that the advert had shown interest from the US by a lady who had Welsh connections. The item will shortly be re listed as MR Thomas understandably did not expect such a media explosion on this. The Daily Post and Chronicle had full page articles as well as making the front page on COL and the Chronicle respectfully.

Mr Thomas explained that it was indeed possible to dismantle and number the wall facing so that it could be transported. He explained that there was also a fair bit of the wall covered by the library, which should be in excellent condition. He told us that it was a shame that the original art work was weathered and had faded considerably to what it was. He also went on to say that he had also been in touch with Ed Povey himself (currently in this country) regarding making another mural.

Gwynedd Council confirmed that even though they did not own the wall, any demolition work would have to go by the council first.

We would like to apologise for not getting the article 100% accurate, but I hope you all agree that it was an amazing story!

The Mural Itself can be seen on Bangor Street in Caernarfon on Mel's Brides shop. If you haven't visited Mel's Brides before then drop in next time you are in town for all your bridal requirements.

This is how we first reported the story.

An astonishing sale has just been put up on EBAY, claiming to sell Caernarfon's famous Mural on Bangor Street.

The sale claims to be for the wall and once sold, it will be removed and delivered to the seller.

The Mural itself was painted in 1979 to celebrate the Eisteddfod being held in Caernarfon at the time. A few years later half the Mural was lost due to the Library being built in front of the  wall.

The proprietors of  Mel Brides (who currently use the building for their business) were not at the premises today when we visited.

After further investigations we contacted EBAY to see if they could authenticate the advert in any way. We were told that they could not confirm either way, but EBAY had strict guidelines that advertisers must adhere to and would ensure that any wrong doings would be looked into.

Looking more closely at the sale page we noticed a few other concerns:

1. The seller was named as 'tanzrus' and only a registered EBAY account holder since February 16th 2008

2. The seller has a '0' feedback ratings, which means he or she has NEVER sold anything on EBAY before now.

3. The photo on the building shows the original art work which has not been seen since the erection of the Library. (The Silver Star bus can no longer be seen on the wall.)

4. The sale page sates that the Mural has been valued at 2.5 million (not sure if that's dollars or pounds?) and goes on to say that  following the sale 10% of the total price must be paid within the week and following this the seller will contact contractors to remove the wall. Ed: I'm sure Mel's Brides would be a little surprised and would have something to say if their shop wall was removed! :-)

5. It is not explained how the wall will be removed without damaging the painting. Are they aware that plaster on stonework crumbles once moved.

6. The sale is listed on the US EBAY site and the sale conducted in Dollars???

7. We contacted the seller for more details and have yet to receive a response, quite strange to think the sale price is suggested as 2.5 million!

All which suggests a big wind up or a massive publicity stunt. It's not April 1st yet is it?

Item is listed as being in Porthmadog in Gwynedd???

Sale ends: 27-Feb-08 22:39:42

Only one bidder to date: "lynnhughes66" (strangely enough another brand new account holder with zero rating!)

This is how the wall is described on EBAY:

Click this link or see below.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=150218145806&Category=20136&_trksid=p3907.m29

	Item Specifics - Paintings This translation is provided as a service. eBay cannot guarantee its accuracy.