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Saleroom Spotlight: Behind the
SALEROOM SPOTLIGHT
Jewellery and effects owned by the poet and critic Dame Edith Sitwell are among pieces from the celebrated family’s seat going on sale in Berkshire this month
If houses could speak, Weston Hall, the grade II-listed manor house, near Towcester in Northamptonshire, would surely have some tales to tell.
The 17th-century hall, which stands in 49 acres of gardens and was the family home of journalist and renowned food critic and MasterChef judge, William Sitwell, sold last year after he and his brother couldn’t maintain its upkeep.
The Sitwells were once among the most celebrated of British society families, with their much-loved home proving to be the perfect place to host glamorous parties. In the family’s heyday in the Twenties and Thirties, Brideshead author Evelyn Waugh, English playwright Noel Coward and society photographer Cecil Beaton often stayed.
Above The bed from which Dame Edith worked, surrounded by six George III chairs
Top right An ostrich feather-trimmed hat, one of Edith’s most iconic pieces, is being offered alongside the Beaton print, with an estimate of £500-£700
Above right A print of the original photograph of Dame Edith taken by Cecil Beaton in 1962 will be offered in the sale
This month much of its contents are up for sale, by the Berkshirebased auctioneers Dreweatts, including clothes and jewellery once owned by the writer and poet Dame Edith Sitwell (18871964), known for shocking society with her eccentric behaviour and ‘Plantagenet’ fashion sense.
Her New York Times obituary described her as : “…a woman of the past, who looked and dressed like a Tudor Monarch, or a figure out of a Medieval tapestry. An aquiline nose and heavy-lidded eyes added to her almost Plantagenet look, which she accentuated with elaborate hats, or turbans and long flowing gowns, sometimes of startling Chinese red, sometimes of intricate brocade. She was addicted to large jewelry and gold armlets, and her fingers were ringed with pebble‐size aquamarines.”
FOUR POSTER
An imposing oak four-poster bed hung with George III needlework (expected to make £8,000-£12,000), from which Dame Edith would write poetry and receive guests, is also part of the two-day sale along with six George III side chairs from the same room (with a presale guide of £5,000-£8,000).
William Sitwell said: “Edith Sitwell would sit regally in bed propped up by so many pillows, her head adorned by some sort of turban and on a blue tray she would write her poetry.”
Dame Edith published work consistently from 1913 and was awarded a DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 1954.
She never married, instead having a lifelong unrequited love for the Russian painter and set designer Pavel Tchelitchew (1898-1957), who met the Sitwells
A gold George III amethyst, enamel and hairwork mourning ring, 1760, dedicated to Mary Barnardiston, has an estimate of £400-£600
through the writer Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) in Paris in 1923. He and Edith corresponded frequently and Pavel produced a total of nine portraits of her during her lifetime. One such, simply titled Edith Sitwell Seated, is estimated to fetch £5,000-£7,000 in the sale.
JEWELLERY HIGHLIGHTS
A selection of eight Qing dynasty, 19th-century Chinese gilt-copper mounted semi-precious stone and jadeite brooches, converted from buckles and believed to have been brought back from China as a gift by Edith’s brother Osbert Sitwell in 1934 has an estimate of £3,000-£4,000.
A pair of silver gilt Indian bangles, worn regularly by Edith, is estimated at £700-£1,000. A 19th-century Chinese carved fluorite dress ring featuring two mythical beasts, is estimated at £800-£1,200.
Elsewhere, a selection of mourning jewellery from earlier in the Sitwell family history at Weston Hall includes a gold George III amethyst, enamel and hairwork mourning ring dating from 1760. The ring contains a braid of hair in a surround of faceted amethysts with its white enamel shank bearing a dedication to Mary Barnardiston, a Sitwell family ancestor who inherited the hall in 1773.
A selection of 18th-century hairwork mourning jewels and hair mementos also appear in the sale with an estimate of £600-£800.
AUCTION fact file
WHAT: Weston Hall and the Sitwells: A Family Legacy When: November 16-17 Where: Dreweatts Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE Viewing: From November 10-15 at Dreweatts Donnington Priory and online at www.dreweatts.com
Above A purple velvet costume in the loose medieval style, late 19th /early 20th century, possibly worn by a young Edith, has an estimate of £150-£250
Left A selection of eight Qing dynasty, 19th-century Chinese semi-precious stone and jadeite brooches, has an estimate of £3,000£4,000
Right A pair of silver gilt Indian bangles is expected to make between £700 and £1,000
IN MY OPINION...
We asked Dreweatts’ head of house sales and private collections, Joe Robinson, for his sale highlights How does it compare to other house sales you have conducted?
A house sale like this is very rare in today’s market. With few pieces ever having been bought or sold, it offers multiple historic narratives, direct links to figures in British history and provenances stretching back 300 years. Another interesting aspect is, until the early 20th century, the house descended through the female line so when men married into the family they introduced parts of their family’s collections.
Do you have a jewellery highlight?
A box of Chinese semi-precious brooches, which were worn by Dame Edith on various occasions, and a pair of gilt metal Indian dancing bangles, also from her collection. Dame Edith was very well known for her statement jewellery.
What about from elsewhere in the sale?
One of the most exciting lots is the work on paper by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770), one of the greatest painters of 18th-century Europe, which we discovered in the attic at Weston Hall.
The drawing was purchased by the Sitwells at the Henry Oppenheimer sale of old master drawings at Christie’s in 1936 and has remained in the family collection ever since. Also there are lots of manuscript letters, notably a folio of transcripts sent between Oscar Wilde and Robert Ross – the writer’s lover and literary executor.
What pieces caught your eye at the lower end of the market?
As a young collector myself I think the numerous lots of Chinese blue and white are particularly attractive as most were collected in the 18th century by the merchant Barnardiston family and have never been sold. Also, the small Rex Whistler drawing of the Sitwell coat of arms would be a nice momento to take home.
Where do you expect interest to come from?
We foresee an international audience as interest in the ‘bright young things’ and traditional English country house style remains very strong globally.
