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UK: Rare lights hidden under a bush fetch fine price


15 Mar 2009 7:48 PM

LONDON, March 15 AAP - Two rare 18th-century lanterns hidden under a hedge for more than a decade have sold at auction for STG22,500 ($A47,785).

The lanterns, believed to have once hung in the Palace of Versailles, were found during a house valuation in Selsey, West Sussex, south-west of London, Britain's The Sunday Telegraph reported.

It is believed the gilt bronze antiques, each standing 1.2 metres tall, were one of only 56 pairs made for the French palace.

It is a mystery how they came to be in a British garden with birds nesting in them.