A LEAD statue - crafted by the world famous Bromsgrove Guild and similar to a popular High Street statue - will be going under the hammer next month.

The Dryad and Boar statue is being sold by Fieldings Auctioneers of Stourbridge, which expects it to sell for between £4,000-£6,000.

The statue is similar to the one in Bromsgrove High Street, which has stood near the town’s main post office for nearly 30 years.

The recognisable sculpture depicts a boy hunter, with curly hair, attacking a wild boar who stands behind him, with his left hand.

In his raised right hand the boy brandishes an iron tipped spear formed from a branch.

The Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts was established in 1898 by Walter Gilbert, and became famous for making the main gates at Buckingham Palace.

The Guild was first involved with decorative ironwork, but later its highly skilled craftsmen expanded into many other fields including plaster, wood, stone and glass.

The original Dryad and Boar was made in bronze by Swiss sculptor Louis Weingartner of the Guild, and a further example was cast in lead.

The High Street statue was made by the late Terry Simons of Bromsgrove Guild Concrete Products, who donated it to mark the pedestrianisation of High Street in 1983.

Mark Hannam, senior valuer and auctioneer, said the statue had been found hidden in bushes at a property.

He said it was possibly made for Nettlebed Park in Oxfordshire, at a cost of £150.

Mr Hannan added: “We are hopeful of exceeding (the estimate price) by considerably more as there has not been a similar item from the Guild, of such size, sold in recent years.”

The statue goes under the hammer at the auctioneers in Mill Race Lane on Saturday, March 9.