Sotheby's to sell collection of works of art from easton neston Datum nieuwsfeit: 17-05-2005 Bron: Sotheby's Amsterdam

Sotheby's SOTHEBY'S TO SELL COLLECTION OF WORKS OF ART FROM EASTON NESTON House Sale to take place at Easton Neston in May IN MAY this year, Sotheby's will sell a large collection of selected paintings, furniture and works of art from Easton Neston house in Northamptonshire on behalf of the Lord and Lady Hesketh and the Trustees of Frederick, 2nd Baron Hesketh.* (see notes to editors) Easton Neston has been the seat of the Fermor-Hesketh family since 1535, and the present house - built by Nicholas Hawksmoor around 1700 - is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful country houses in England. Its contents are no less magnificent: together, the pieces to be sold (some 1500 items of fine English and French furniture, Old Master and British Paintings, Tapestries, Silver, Books, Chinese cloisonné, Japanese lacquer work, European Porcelain and Glass) represent centuries of patronage and collecting at the highest level. The sale will be held at Easton Neston, near Towcester, and will take place over three days, from Tuesday, May 17, 2005 to Thursday, May 19, 2005, with viewing at the house prior to the sale from Thursday, May 12 to Monday, May 16, 2005. Henry Wyndham, Chairman of Sotheby's Europe, said: "The collection of works of art at Easton Neston is one of the most significant to have been put together by a British family over the last five hundred years. The house is full of rare and beautiful objects that reflect the changing tastes and fortunes of nearly 20 generations of the Fermor-Hesketh family, and Sotheby's is extremely honoured to have been chosen to conduct such an historic sale." It was announced in May of last year that Easton Neston - together with its 3,319-acre estate, its private racecourse and the entire estate village of Hulcote - was for sale. A number of offers have been received for the property assets, the majority of which will shortly be in the hands of the respective solicitors. While negotiations for the principal House continue with a preferred bidder, two significant new approaches were recently made to the agents. The Collection Easton Neston is exceptionally rich in great works of art from different fields, making it one of the most eclectic and exciting house sales to have been organised by Sotheby's over the last 20 years. In terms of importance, it can be compared to the great Mentmore and Leverhulme sales, but it stands apart from these in that its history is much longer, dating back as it does to the Tudor period and including works of art commissioned by the families from the 17th century onwards. Fortunately, the collections were well inventoried in the 19th and 20th centuries, and so it has been possible to see both how the objects were originally acquired and displayed, as well as how they were re-sited at various moments in the last 200 years. Unusually, this is supported by a wealth of photographic material which has provided even further evidence of how and where certain objects were placed around the house. The sale is particularly rich in pieces of fine English and Continental Furniture. Among the former is a rare and important mid-18th-century Gothick cabinet estimated at £100,000-£150,000. Commissioned by the Countess of Pomfret (friend of Horace Walpole and, like him, an early enthusiast of the Gothick style) for her spectacular house ("Pomfret Castle", now demolished), in Arlington Street in London, the piece represents a early example of work from this exciting moment in design. Other examples of fine English Furniture include a suite of early George III gilt seat furniture attributed to John Cobb (to be sold in various lots, with estimates up to £90,000); and a giltwood sofa attributed to Thomas Chippendale (est: £40,000-£60,000). Much of the French and Continental Furniture in the house was acquired by Sir Thomas Fermor Hesketh and his wife Florence Emily Sharon (see 'Family History', p. 3) in the 19th century. Highlights include a pair of Louis XVI gilt bronze and marble candelabra attributed to Clodion (est: £70,000-£100,000); a pair of spectacular Neapolitan commodes (est: £50,000-£80,000); and an Empire cabinet attributed to Jacob (est: £40,000-£60,000). The house also contains an impressive collection of Old Master Paintings. Largely amassed during the 18th and 19th centuries, these include works by Jan van Goyen, Joseph van Bredael, Joost Cornelisz. Droochsloot and Pieter de Bloot, as well as an interesting group of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish still-life paintings. Alongside is a splendid array of English Portraits, including the fine portraits of Sir George and Lady Fermor attributed to Robert Peak, and a large group of family portraits by Sir Peter Lely and Sir Godfrey Kneller. Later works include the full length portrait of the Countess of Pomfret (est: £60,000-£80,000) by Sir Joshua Reynolds and an unpublished portrait of George III attributed to John Shackleton, possibly presented to the 2nd Earl of Pomfret by the King himself. Further to the portraits, the sale will include a number of particularly good bird paintings by artists such as Peter Casteels. Sir Thomas Fermor Hesketh was a particularly keen collector of Oriental Works of Art, having visited Japan and the Far East during his World Tour 1879/80, and his interest is amply reflected in the sale. Related highlights include a stunning group of Chinese cloisonné amassed in the last quarter of the 19th century, in particular an incense burner (est: £100,000-150,000); some very fine Chinese lacquer vases and bowls; and a number of early Chinese bronzes, including a Ming baluster vase (est: £40,000-£60,000) and an Kangxi Imperial gilt bronze bell (est: £20,000-£30,000). European Sculpture & Works of Art in the sale include a pair of extremely rare mid-17th-century plaster busts of Sir William and Lady Fermor by Peter Besnier, Sculptor in Ordinary to Charles I. Dating from the early years of the Commonwealth, these beautiful plasters number among a handful of surviving works by Besnier and are estimated at £40,000-£60,000. Also of great rarity is a pair of Roman carved marble table supports circa 1626, each carved with the Howard armorials, which originally formed part of the furnishings of Arundel House in London. These came to Easton Neston with the Arundel Marbles in the late 17th century (est: £60,000-80,000). Alongside this, the sale will also include a fine selection of Flemish and French Tapestries from the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as some particularly handsome clocks. One entire section of the sale will be devoted to the family's collection of Silver and of particular note is a Charles II silver gilt toilet set circa 1680, made for Jane, Duchess of Norfolk (est: £150,000-£200,000). This will be accompanied by a wide range of predominately English silver from the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as American silver. Among a smaller number of pieces of Continental silver is a German silver gilt ewer and basin by Paul Kleebühler, made in Augsburg c.1620 (est: £60,000-£80,000). From the Library will be a number of books covering a wide diversity of subjects, many characterised by the fineness of the bindings. This part of the sale will also include early photographs and some manuscript material. Aside from the books acquired by the family at Easton Neston, the library also includes works from the Hesketh library at Rufford Hall. The House The Fermor family (they became Fermor-Hesketh in mid-19th century) has owned the Easton Neston estate since 1535. Described in William Camden's Britannia (1586) as a "beautiful seat", the original house there was an amalgam of Tudor pitched roofs, gables, arched doorways and mullioned windows. This same house was home to six generations until, in the 1690s, Sir William Fermor (1648-1711) decided to consult Sir Christopher Wren (his cousin by marriage) for advice on building a new house. Wren's office designed two wings for a new house (one of which no longer exists) and directed Sir William to his highly talented colleague Nicholas Hawksmoor, who built the spectacular main house that stands today. Begun in 1699 (the exterior was completed in 1702, but work on the interior continued well after Sir William's death), Easton Neston is the finest secular work Hawksmoor ever designed. Described in Vitruvius Britannicus (1715) as an "ingenious invention" it is grand but not austere, lavish but not ostentatious. Beautifully proportioned, the smooth, stone pilastered walls of the house are punctured by 17 immensely tall sash windows. These magnificent arched and rectangular "eyes" make for dazzling light effects inside the house, and also frame arresting views over the formal gardens, lakes, fountains, gates and the gently rolling hills that make up the estate. Inside the house, a magnificent hall, staircase and gallery bear witness to Hawksmoor's early genius and originality. The soaring, spectacularly-lit stone cantilevered staircase that leads from the hall to the first floor is said to be both the longest and the most beautiful of its kind in Britain. The house has never been open to the public, and the sale therefore affords a unique opportunity to see this exceptional example of English Baroque architecture. Family History The Fermor/Hesketh families have a long and fascinating history. Richard Fermor (1480-1552) was the first of the Fermors to own Easton Neston. Originally from Somerton in Oxfordshire, he was an extremely wealthy man who enjoyed, to begin with at least, both the favour of the King (Henry VIII) and the contract for victualling the royal army throughout its campaigns both in France and in England. Although in 1540 Fermor fell foul of the King and was briefly imprisoned, his freedom and his wealth were later restored to him - largely, legend has it, at the behest of the King's jester (Will Somers) who had once worked for Fermor and who used all his wit and charm to obtain a royal pardon for his former master. Richard's heirs enjoyed all of his good fortune and (aside from a brief downturn during the Civil War) little of his bad luck, profiting from successful business and estate revenues, and entertaining at the highest level. (In 1603, King James I stayed with the family at Easton Neston.) In 1661, on the death of his father, Sir William Fermor (1647-1711) inherited Easton Neston. He was then just 13 years old, but his energy and ambition meant that change was inevitable. In 1692, Fermor made his third marriage, to Lady Sophia Osborne, daughter of the Duke of Leeds, and in the following month he was created Lord Lempster (or Leominster). He had toyed with the idea of building a new house for many years, but now his new wife and new rank meant that a new house was essential. And so it was that Lord Lempster engaged the services of Nicholas Hawksmoor, providing him with the freedom and the funds to create his greatest piece of secular architecture. When Lord Lempster died in 1711, he left behind him a magnificent house and a collection of artefacts that bore witness both to his wealth and to his discerning taste. (Among his acquisitions were the celebrated antique sculptures he purchased from the Duke of Norfolk - "the Arundel Marbles", now in the Ashmolean Musuem in Oxford.) His son Thomas (who became the Earl of Pomfret) was an appreciative heir and, together with his wife, Henrietta (an early enthusiast of the 'Gothick' revival), preserved and augmented the estate. Thomas's son, however, was not so responsible. Notoriously extravagant, the 2nd Earl of Pomfret was already deep in debt by the time he inherited Easton Neston, and was forced to sell various items from the collection (including the Arundel Marbles, which he sold back to his disapproving mother, who then presented them to the Ashmolean). This downturn in the family fortunes did not, however, last long. In 1867, the fifth Lord Pomfret died unmarried and the property passed to his sister's son, Sir Thomas George Fermor Hesketh, the 7th baronet and head of an ancient family whose seat was at Rufford Old Hall in Lancashire (see note 5). Thanks to a curious twist of fate, Sir George was soon to acquire both a wife and a fortune. In 1880, he was instrumental in the rescue at sea off the coast of Mexico of a number of citizens of San Francisco. In recognition of this, the city honoured him (a certificate of their gratitude will be offered in the sale), and he also came to the attention of the San Francisco heiress Florence Emily Sharon (1858-1924). Florence Emily Sharon was the daughter of William Sharon (1812-1885), who had made an enormous fortune in the gold, silver, banking and hotel business in California and Nevada. The first United States Senator from Nevada, Sharon was also the wealthiest man in the state. By the early 1880s, his empire was such that he was the largest single tax payer in California. When he died in 1885, he left the bulk of his estate to his daughter Florence Emily Sharon - and this she brought with her to the marriage. Such transatlantic unions were greeted with scepticism - and occasional outrage - by American critics at the time: "So frequent has the exchange of American dollars for European titles become that the public hardly realises what it means.The average citizen dismisses it from his mind with the comforting belief that for every millionaire's daughter who carries her father's hard-earned dollars across the ocean to be expended in paying gambling debts or refurbishing worn out estates, there are a hundred people left, but. state of affairs. is perfectly astounding. the past 35 years, TWO HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS have gone away from this country " (San Franciso Examiner, 1895). The marriage was, however, a happy one for Easton Neston, which was then in considerable disrepair. Florence Emily Sharon brought with her to England an astounding dowry of $2,000,000, together with many pieces from her own family's collection. When her father died in 1885, Florence inherited vast amounts of real estate in San Francisco, the income from which allowed for the restoration and upkeep of the building, as well as many new purchases. (The flow of money from America continued well into the 1930s - save for a brief interruption caused by the momentous earthquake of 1906.) During her time at Easton Neston, Florence acquired numerous paintings, oriental works of art, and pieces of furniture, adding significantly to the existing collections of both the Pomfret and Hesketh families. Florence's greatest love, though, was for things medieval. When she first arrived at her new home in Northamptonshire, she was deeply disappointed. She had expected the house to be rambling and quaintly medieval, and she was deeply shocked by the reality of the grand, perfectly proportioned "classical" house which greeted her. But her dissatisfaction did not last long. Rather than abandon her dream, she transformed the interior of the house, cladding some of the walls in wooden panelling, and filling the rooms with stuffed bears, suits of armour, and oak furniture. (Her work was later reversed, and the house as it is today shows little trace of the medieval character that was then imposed.) A further boost to the family fortunes came in 1909 when Sir Thomas and Florence's son, Thomas Fermor Hesketh, married another wealthy American, his own step-cousin Florence Louise Witherspoon Breckinridge. They added further to the collection, buying more furniture and paintings, and augmenting the family library with some spectacular books. In 1935, Sir Thomas Fermor was created 1st Baron Hesketh. The present Lord Hesketh (3rd Baron) has played an active role in politics dating back to his appointment by Margaret Thatcher as Government Whip in The House of Lords in 1986. He subsequently held the posts of Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (1989-90) and Minister of State, Department of Trade & Industry (1990-91) before being appointed Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords (1991-93). It was at Easton Neston that Lord Hesketh, equally well known for his love of motor-racing, originally created Hesketh Racing which designed and developed the Formula 1 models raced for Hesketh by James Hunt. Notes to Editors 1. The sale represents approximately 25% of the entire collection. 2. There will be a Press Preview at Easton Neston on May 11, 2005 and accreditation will be necessary. Please contact the Press Office for further information on 020 7293 6000. 3. Entry to Easton Neston will be by catalogue which will be available from April by logging on to www.sothebys.com or by calling 020 7293 6444. Catalogues can also be purchased at Sotheby's New Bond Street and Sotheby's New York, and at Easton Neston from May 12 onwards. 4. Images are available via email (see over). 5. Rufford Old Hall was enlarged and beautified towards the end of the 16th century, whilst in the 1760s, as a result of the family's increasing fortune, a new home, Rufford New Hall, was built to designs by Wyatt. The Hesketh collection largely joined that of the Fermors when the families elided at the end of the 19th century. The 1st Lord Hesketh presented Rufford Old Hall to the National Trust in the 1930s. 6. Estimates do not include buyer's premium. A pair of plaster busts of Sir William and Lady Fermor, by Peter Besnier, mid 17th-century Estimate: £40,000-60,000 Sir Joshua Reynolds Portrait of Anna Maria Draycott, Countess of Pomfret, Estimate: £60,000-£80,000 Rock crystal, cut-glass and gilt-bronze chandelier, Louis XV style, 19th century Estimate: £50,000-£80,000 A rare and important Gothick cabinet commissioned by the Countess of Pomfret, mid 18th-century Estimate: £100,000-150,000 Albert Lynch Portrait of Florence Emily Sharon Estimate: £12,000-£18,000 Press Office Contacts: Helen Griffith/Mitzi Mina +44 (0)20 7293 6000 pressuk@sothebys.com PRESS PREVIEW AT EASTON NESTON Journalists and photographers are invited to preview Sotheby's sale of selected contents from Easton Neston house Where: Easton Neston, Northamptonshire When: Wednesday, May 11, 10am- 12noon Details: Press conference at 10am, followed by an opportunity to view the house and contents until 12noon Accreditation is required. Please fax the attached form back to us on 020 7293 5947 by Wednesday, May 4, 2005 Helen Griffith/Mitzi Mina, Sotheby's Press Office 020 7293 6000/pressuk@sothebys.com Full directions will be given when accreditation is confirmed. Notes: Home of the Fermor-Hesketh family since 1535, Easton Neston is widely considered one of the most beautiful houses in England. It has never before been open to the public. One of the most important "Country House sales" to be held in recent times, the sale comprises over 1500 lots ranging in estimate from £20 to £200,000. The sale is estimated to fetch in excess of £5 million. ---- --

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