Wasn't there a lot of publicity about the recent Bunny Williams auction?
It had all the ingredients for a juicy story with history and provenance and a time in history that went with the person and yet we all tried to hold on to through her artifacts.
Well London does provenance and history just that tad deeper
if I may say...
There is an auction coming up this week at Sotheby's which is the objects that were in the Holland Park home of the late last surviving child of Winston Churchill.
The sign below is what was written next to this desk recreated
as it was in Holland Park.
As luck would have it there was a lecture and talk by people who recounted personal stories of the family. The crowd was full of people who seemed to either know her or met her and there was great conversations I overheard while viewing the objects.
It was unusual in that they recreated areas of her homes.
But if I were related to her this arrangement would have made me too emotional that I would have ripped up the contract
and stopped the sale.
The curators set up areas of her home exactly as it was in real life.
This is an example of recreating her home.
But as in the Bunny Mellon auction,
the guide prices were way too low.
That table above will doubtfully go for the estimate at £600 - 900.
How could a part dinner service be £250 that was part of not only the Churchill legacy but also linked to Blenheim Palace? For those who may not be aware, Winston Churchill was the second son and narrowly missed out on being the Duke of Marlborough.
Furthermore he had an American mother and his maternal grandfather was Leonard Jerome who
was a one time editor of the New York Times.
Sorry for the terrible pictures but don't worry because I will post a link to the print catalogue link where you can get a better look.
But this is a great historical souvenir that
I think surely a government institution would and should bid for rather than a private individual.
The section I admired the most was the paintings done
by Winston Churchill.
I knew he painted but I didn't realize just how talented he was!
I thought they were perhaps Scottish impressionists but each painting I admired was done by him!
You really must browse the catalog for the paintings alone.
Here is the link to the print catalog and if it doesn't work then please go to the Sotheby's website and go from there.
So lucky to be in London for this auction and the viewing of all the collection! Love the re-creation of the rooms that belonged to Mary Soames. Rather like Churchill's own home, set up as though he's still there and has just left the room, even to a partly smoked cigar on an ashtray. Mary must have been very old when she died! She seemed to be one of the most balanced and grounded of his children. Loved her fascinating biography of her mother Clemmie which also gives lots of insights into Churchill himself. Will be interesting to see what the auction fetches - but agree it will be so sad if too many things go into private collections rather than to galleries or museums. Many thanks for this Naomi, so interesting. Pammie
ReplyDeleteOne of the positives that allows me to stay in London is the cultural aspect because it surely ain't the pools and sun! I hope you had a chance to look at the catalogue - so much to read that I still haven't finished it properly. But I just hope a hedge fund doesn't get the red box but a museum gets it! Apparently the estate has already given away lots of churchill paintings to be shown at chartwell in lieu of some of the inheritance tax. Isn't it crazy that 3 generations away from such wealth and they are having to sell such items to deal with the estate. x
DeleteI believe that you might be referring to the recent auction of Mrs. Paul Mellon known as Bunny Mellon and not Bunny Williams the interior decorator.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! I changed it :) I think it is because I have been window shopping on the decorators website and her nephew's John Roselli!
DeleteThank you for posting on this great auction, and no, not terrible photographs at all. You are very lucky to have access to these previews since you live so close. I cannot wait to see what some of these items realize when the hammer comes crashing down.
ReplyDeleteI think you would have loved the lecture except there were a lot of people who had been through the war and there was a lot of war stories being shared in the crowd...
DeleteOh, yes, that lecture sounds right up my alley, even the war stories. Are you interested in attending the auction and reporting back on the drama in the room?
DeleteIf it weren't for a Xmas party I have to go too I would have loved to go!! But I will see which items got which rices and I will try and find out who the red box goes too!
DeleteI think it would be touching, at first, to see little vignettes of my mother's rooms. But I would soon get sad, then a bit mad, i don't know. There is just so much history in Europe. His paintings do look beautiful. Hope you had a great time. Much love.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how the family agreed to this to be frank. I was upset on their behalf once I got over the browsing. The recreated vignettes were such heartbreaking. He was a fab painter. x
DeleteHow interesting! I think I would find it sad to see the vignettes outside of the original home.
ReplyDeleteI can see why they did it but I bet the family must have had a few drinks after seeing it...
DeleteOh wow. What a gift to be able to have such a personal peek at history. I love how you see his softer side in his art.
ReplyDeleteThere were pictures of the family which seems wrong for anyone but a formal institution to buy such things bc imagine going to someone's home and they just have family pictures of the churchills??
Deletewould have loved to be there and seen in person. and yes, his art is so appealing!
ReplyDeleteagree, if this were my mothers possessions, that contract would have been torn to shreds, too sad
debra
Much more appealing that i realized bc i never paid attention to his art. Yes I would have not agreed to something like this but i suppose the taxes were quite high and more than they could manage?
DeleteInteresting sale… doubt it will get the crazy press/ prices of the Bunny sale though (where are all the decorators hash tagging this on insta?). While he's a historical figure and there are undoubtably pieces of historical interest, the actual pieces themselves are fairly ordinary (table for instance, or the lamps etc). Unlike Bunny who had the creme de la creme of furniture/ china/ jewels etc and they got a premium for that reason amongst others.
ReplyDeleteChurchill is still a figure viewed with some ambivalence in Australia, due to his role in Gallipoli. With the 100th anniversary of the landing looming, no doubt it will all get press again… xx
I see your point but then I remember the crappy wooden golf clubs that were used by JFK that got around 800k and that was ages ago...apparently his paintings go for 6 figures easily. While i do realize in Australia he isn't the same hero, in the UK he probably has been the main figure and icon and more consistently popular than the queen who let's face it has only been popular-ish since her silver jubilee. He seems to embody the perfect renaissance man for the brits as he was born posh and yet he was self made. But interestingly you bring a point that Gallipolli and his name are rarely mentioned together here...In fact Gallipolli is not really mentioned that much at all come to think of it and I think a huge sore point they wish to forget. Will be interesting to see if the younger crowd do join the bidding bc I can tell you that the pensioners were all signing up for their absentee bids yesterday!! xx
DeleteHa! Laughing about the absentee bidding pensioners! Yes, he's definitely a hero to a certain age group, and certainly to the Brits in general. Interesting that Gallipoli is not mentioned much still, certainly as the years pass here it's looming larger and larger in terms of National importance, and the Dawn Service on ANZAC day in Gallipoli has cult like significance now (to a point that they've had to limit numbers and done a ballot for next years 100 year service). But I suppose as it doesn't show the Mother Country in the best light its probably swept under the carpet a little. We all want our heroes untarnished by previous mistakes.
DeleteHis paintings are rather good though, and you can see why someone would get a kick out of explaining who the artist was if it were hanging on their wall.
Agree with Heidi about his reputation in Oz. People here can never forget the role he played in the Gallipoli campaign. In addition, seem to remember that in Mary Soames's biog of her mother she wrote about one of Churchill's meetings with Roosevelt during a visit to the States and quoted R as saying afterwards something along the lines of: "This is a man who has 100 ideas a day - five are good!"
DeleteNevertheless he was remarkable in his recognition of the Nazi threat and his efforts to get Britain war ready when so many had their heads in the sand, believing in "peace in our time". Or much worse, there were many who had sympathy with Hitler. Just think about the Mitford family as an example, with Diana, Unity and their mother supporting Hitler - and even Tom at first a bit in thrall!
Even though things at times looked so very desperate for Britain, he had enormous determination and grit and the great gift of oratory to rouse the nation to fight on. Who can ever forget the recording of his voice growling out the "....we will fight them in the streets. We will never surrender!" commitment? So different from the French.
Hard to tell what price things will go for, particularly if it's the pensioners who are the main bidders! But imagine the national institutions will be interested in some of it. Remember reading in Mary's biography of C that his official portrait commissioned by the parliament or Govt, not sure which, was so awful that he hated it and was dreadfully upset. It just disappeared one day and Mary confessed that her mother had seized it and had the gardener burn it on a bonfire. So this will never trouble the family in the sale.
There were quite a lot of his paintings (he seems to have been v prolific) at his house/now museum. Most of them were very attractive, many painted during his holidays and travels so they're landscapes of v attractive locations. Pammie
Yes you bring up another point in history that is largely brushed over...One forgets that the Windsors only began being the "Windsors" in 1917. They were at heart Germans and unfortunately that sentiment wasn't erased in some family members during the war as we all now know. He was really steadfast in this determination to stop Hitler and really that is his big achievement because he really did falter a bit in his latter political career.
DeleteBut he was probably the most important figure for Britain the last century and he is an interesting man to say the least - dont know if you listen to the bbc radio? you must listen to this series - just so entertaining!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00zgqdl/episodes/guide
Heidi - yes I think though that the British do like a simple image and they really play up his eccentricities and his witticisms. Oddly the press always remind the public of his posh background and it is always a left wing historian on one of the bbc panel anniversary shows that have to remind the rest of the panel that he was indeed part American ( egads ) and he was an ambitious man who tried to better himself ( how very middle class ) you can practically hear the sweeping!
DeleteSuspect he might have had ADHD (and his son Randolph also) - he struggled with academic subjects and performed poorly overall at school - not a scholastic achiever. But he seemed to love risk taking, eg his travels to war zones as a young man and his interest in flying small planes, much to the distress of his wife. As the younger son, of course he missed out on the big inheritance so wasn't well to do - or even considered posh. Then when he did inherit some money and invested in the stock market - he lost most of it in the 1929 crash. So with a growing family he was always striving to improve his income, often through writing. Agree, he was a true eccentric and old school Brits always seem to love eccentrics. He was also extremely combative and quick in repartee. There are some funny stories about the legendary antipathy between him and the American Lady Astor, the first woman MP in Westminster. Over a dinner table she told Churchill, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison!" His reply, "Madam, if you were my wife, I'd drink it".
DeleteYes Naomi, it's shocking how some of the British royal family were sympathetic to Hitler. Just as well for Britain that Edward VIII abdicated and his staunchly loyal brother became King at such a crucial time. People say that his grandfather, Edward VIIth and his brothers and sisters always spoke English with a pronounced German accent. It was Edward's (VII) nephew who was Kaiser Wilhelm - but he'd always been a great worry to the British branch of the family.
It's interesting that the Mitfords were actually cousins by marriage of Churchill's (on his wife's side). Fascinating times in British history. Pammie
Linguists say that the clipped english accent that was bbc standard before the war was apparently from the days of Prince Albert with his endings and so the court would morph ever so slightly to accommodate his accent. A theory of course but an interesting one bc bbc standard has definitely changed from 60 years ago. Genealogically I think the Marlboroughs with their american side and the mitfords being so english have relations with many more people than thought. I think they share what is referred to as turnkey ancestors. King Edward the third apparently is the ancestor to up to easily ten percent of the english population!
DeleteV interesting theory about clipped accent originating from efforts to accommodate Albert's speech. Also interesting to learn that Edward III is ancestor to 10% or more of English population. So maybe we're all related way back! There was a family story that my father's side were somehow related to Mountbatten's family - during WWII my father's older brother was privately entertained by Mountbatten as a family member (they dined alone together on his ship) when they were both in port at the same.
DeleteHowever, when my cousin (father's younger brother's daughter) began working on the family tree she couldn't find any connection at all. During our garden tour last year we met Ashley Hicks (Mountbatten's grandson) and I mentioned this story to him - saying it must all be an old family myth. He denied this and said he was sure it was true: we almost certainly were related. I just thought he was being charming and kind but when I told G later he said no - AH probably meant that the family connection was from the wrong side of the blanket. Not at all uncommon. Pammie
Just wonderful, he is the most fascinating figure of the 20th century, I felt really quite moved looking at everything there, must get the catalogue sent up.
ReplyDeleteYou would have loved hanging out yesterday because there is something about the war that was a time of just concentrated memory. You can have a look at the print catalogue on the link bc it was really rich in detail and had more than the usual lots and descriptions.
DeleteJust too sad to see such a home displayed and sold off as such much of our history is now.
ReplyDeleteToo sad and yes - it is not just their history is it? I mean I would have thought the paintings would have been enough to pay the death duties but she must have had quite the trust stashed away to pay for...
DeleteHow incredible! I had no idea he was a painter. They're gorgeous. I'm with you on the setup. It'd be too hard for me. But it does make it interesting. When I buy antiques/old crap, I often wish I had a point of reference for how it was used in its past lives.
ReplyDeleteA prolific one at that. It's good to have a reference of a strangers life that you impart your own energy to but it would seem hard to be able to withstand all the history that comes on his former writing desk. I wouldn't be able to get anything done!!
DeleteYes I saw an earlier comment also caught the Bunny Mellon and not Bunny Williams as I was puzzled too and only thought of BW as decorator. His American heritage fascinates and those Jeromes were quite a group and I think instilled in Churchill that much needed tenacity and can-do spirit the British desperately needed during those dark days.
ReplyDeleteYes I got my Bunny's mixed up. I just wrote off the cuff last night so please excuse me. Yes I do find his self made man aspect very much his American side because he could have just been the typical second son syndrome of a aristo and been a lazy playboy.
DeleteTruly I am most impressed with his works of art and I do hope the hammer drops at much higher prices than I am seeing here. Also agree that some of these historical pieces should be in museums or other historical institutions!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Karena
The Arts by Karena
Yes I do wonder how the prices might go. It would be interesting to see if the Churchills still hold any allure to the Brits or if it is more so for a certain generation.
DeleteHow wonderful! You're so lucky to be able to see these first hand. I would love to have a walk through.
ReplyDeleteThis auction was doubly interesting bc for once there were people at the auction house!
DeleteMost of the commentary on Mrs Mellon's belongings/furnishings had the theme of how ordinary the things were - she was renowned for her taste. I don't know what people expected, she had made a comfortable and welcoming country home, and had arranged items so as to make the total impression charming and relaxed, without any single item sticking out and saying "Look at me, I'm expensive." Even her antiques were friendly.
ReplyDeleteI too am wondering about the prices, and who the successful bidders will be.
Yes when I saw her things i was surprised that even the straw baskets went for so much money. But then again I think the multi million dollar was a great background for the things! I can't wait to see the results myself and hope to link back for you all.
DeleteThis is all fascinating, particularly the depth of knowledge in your comments, recently I caught the end of a fantastic film called 'Young Winston' it shoeds quite what a challenging upbringing he had. If this has piqued your interest you should watch it.
ReplyDeleteWe are mostly secret anoraks here!!! I will watch it as I've not even heard of it so thank you!
DeleteVery interesting post and great photos. I was taken to see the film Young Winston as a child. It's good.
ReplyDeleteGosh was just thinking about old Winston. His home in the country (can't quite remember where) was one of the best home tours I've ever done. It was lovely but a (comparatively) small house with the kitchen completely intact and you could imagine him dictating in the bath and building that brick wall. He got a lot done and especially later in life
ReplyDeleteWell you learn something new every day; I don't think many people would have known Churchill was a talented artist, I certainly didn't and although the paintings aren't my taste, what they denote makes them quite appealing. Guide prices are so misleading, aren't they? All about enticing you in! Have a good weekend x
ReplyDeleteI wish I could preview the items in person! What a treat to enjoy the items in situ (well, almost). Thanks for the highlights. Happy Holidays! Warm greetings from DC~
ReplyDelete