IT is not every day that an auction throws up a selection that ranges from Dinosaur eggs to Winston Churchill to Al Capone. The auction of the private collection of Stanley J. Seeger at Sotheby’s in London on March 5 and 6 offers all that and extra in more than 1,000 lots across 75 collecting categories. This encyclopaedic collection has been grouped together by Sotheby’s until the title 1,000 ways of seeing. Starting chronologically with 250 million year old fossilised trees it charts many moments in history and art.
Whimsicality, humour and historical resonance always appealed to Stanley Seeger (1930-2011) and Christopher Cone. The works of art, objects and curiosities they collected were part of their everyday life. Guests to their homes might be invited to sit in Winston Churchill’s armchair, while being poured tea from Lord Nelson’s silver teapot or served Bloody Marys from Al Capone’s cocktail shaker – a Christmas gift from the gangster’s men, engraved “To a regular guy, from the boys 1932”. Stanley Seeger’s great enthusiasm for natural history is reflected in the collection in ten fossilised dinosaur eggs from the Jurassic Period (100 million BC), while his fascination with film, history and great historical figures is reflected in Orson Welles’ working draft script for Citizen Kane (1941).
Melanie Clore, Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, who worked with Stanley Seeger many times over the years, said: “Only once in a generation does a collector with such diverse, interesting and far-reaching taste as Stanley Seeger appear. His engaging intelligence and wry sense of humour are reflected in the sheer ‘joie de vivre’ of this sale. Every single object has a story to tell and is enhanced by its association with one of the greatest collectors of his generation”.
Meriden International Sterling Company
‘Al Capone’s Cocktail Shaker’
Engraved “To A ‘REGULAR GUY’ From THE BOYS 1932” (£1,000-1,500).
Admiral Lord Nelson’s Bachelor Teapot
Hallmarked London, 1799 (£8,000-12,000).
WINSTON CHURCHILL’S ARMCHAIR
Mahogany and upholstered later upholstered in white silk damask, with stained rear legs ending in brass cappings and castors, with a label printed Knight, Frank & Rutley
Made circa 1880. (£3,000-5,000).