A vintage horizontal engine, we suspect originally supplied to run small machinery in a commercial workshop before the widespread availability of mains electricity and fractional horsepower motors. The engine is complete and turns over freely. One bearing cap has cracked through and shows an old repair - it could be brazed to make a better job of it or, alternatively, used as a pattern to produce a new part. The wooden base may well be original - currently in a stripped and varnished condition, the wood is what a Victorian timber merchant would call "painting grade". It would, almost certainly, have originally been lacquered - probably black. This one needs sympathetic conservation rather than wholesale restoration - we would be tempted to clean the brightwork and paint the base, leaving the rest untouched with its original patina.
