Treasures from Important Estates and Houses: Bonhams to auction lots with direct links to Churchill and royals - and from Lady Lucan's estate

Slivers of aristocratic history, including a portrait of the notorious vanished earl, are included in this week's bumper Bonhams auction.
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Philippa Stockley1 October 2018

Humdrum paraphernalia of the huntin’, shootin’ and fishin’ brigade sits beside items of historical importance with direct links to Churchill and the royals in a bumper Bonhams auction of four house contents sales on October 3.

Fine Georgian furniture ranges from walnut chests of drawers with estimates from £400, to two beautiful wood-framed sofas — one, lot 216, on for £500-£700; the other, lot 100, likely Chippendale, for £10,000-£15,000.

There are robust armchairs, solid-silver salvers, plus porcelain, decorative items and good paintings, from 17th-century Dutch still lives to 19th-century portraits. This sale is notable for its more unusual items.

The first 47 lots come from the estate of Lady Lucan, who died last year. Her husband John Bingham, the 7th Earl of Lucan, vanished in 1974 after the body of nanny Sandra Rivett was found in the basement of the family’s Belgravia home. Lucan, widely believed to have bludgeoned her to death after mistaking her for his wife, was himself declared dead in 2016.

Lot 1 is a frankly hideous painting of Lucan swathed in blood-red velvet against a bilious green ground. By society portraitist Dominick Elwes, it’s estimated at £2,000-£3,000.

Other fare includes a lovely, heavy silver tray, lot 7, at £1,500-£2,000, and lot 14, a striking pair of Empire bronze-and-gilt candlesticks, for £1,500-£2,500. Among the flotsam and jetsam of posh living are fob seals and lot 22, a fine black leather dressing case with many silver-topped jars and silver-backed brushes, for £1,000-£1,500.

A fascinating piece of royal history is the “coronation chair” sat in by the 5th Countess Lucan at the coronation of George VI, the Queen’s father, in 1937. Peers often took their chairs away and this one, lot 46, is estimated to fetch £200-£300.

Unusually, there’s a pair of identical chairs in the fourth section of the auction, lot 213, on for £500-£700, from the estate of Victor, 3rd Viscount Churchill, who also died last year. Banker Victor Churchill was a cousin of the Winston Churchill branch.

Of Victor’s illustrious ancestors, the second Baron Churchill’s wife was Lady Jane, Queen Victoria’s longest-serving Lady of the Bedchamber, who received many gifts, some on offer. The pretty, silver-gilt inkwell that was held by her son Victor Albert, Lord Chamberlain, at Edward VII’s coronation in 1902 for the King to sign the coronation oath, is lot 267, valued £1,000-£1,500.

Victor Albert’s bobbled viscount’s coronet in its box, lot 220, is estimated at £800-£1,200, while lot 225, a red leather shot carrier embossed with the royal coat of arms and holding numerous walking sticks, is £600-£800. Lot 239, books inscribed by Winston Churchill to his cousins in 1936, could fetch £1,500-£2,000 and lot 241, a Bible given in 1881 to Victor Albert by his “affec. grandmother” Queen Victoria, is on for £400-£600. Ten signed royal photographs include Queen Victoria, lot 251, for £500-£700.

There are 80 lots from Beverston Castle in Gloucestershire, formerly owned by Major Lawrence Rook and his wife. A decorated war hero, Rook became a world-class eventer, then a gold medallist in the 1956 Olympics. He and his wife were horse and country crazy, and members of the Beaufort Hunt.

There are adorable bronze bunnies, foxes and hounds to be had, plus sporting books and hunting horns, and a pair of Denby porcelain stirrup cups of a fox and hound, lot 169, for £500-£700.

Catch fishing rods and flies for £600-£800, or riding boots, crops and a silver-topped cane, lot 205, for £200-£400. Lot 201 is a collection of bowler and top hats, plus a jockey’s pink silk cap, for £200-£400.

The major was noted for “great gallantry, coolness and determination”, and his medals, lot 207, valued at £1,000-£1,400, include the Military Cross, awarded in 1945.

  • Treasures from Important Estates and Houses is at Bonhams’ Private Collections Sale, Oct 3, Montpelier Street, SW7.