Lovely objects are made to be seen, used and enjoyed according to the English designer Jasper Conran. Now downsizing to a 17th century house in West Dorset – much smaller than its predecessors – Conran is regretfully parting with an amazing collection of art, antique furniture and objects through two sales at Christie’s this September. An online auction with 223 lots gets underway today and will run to September 21. There will be a live auction at Christie’s in London with 213 lots on September 14. These sales offer a window into the magical interiors that Conran created at Flemings Hall, Suffolk: Walpole House, Chiswick; Ven House, Somerset and most recently his six bedroomed apartment at the Palladian mansion that is New Wardour Castle in Wiltshire, one of England’s finest country houses. The castle played a part as the dance school in the film Billy Elliot. UPDATE: THE LIVE SALE REALISED £5,835,500
Portrait of Cecilia Neville (b.c.1604). Courtesy CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2021. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £562,500
Christie’s say the sale of this iconic collection will be a landmark in the history of English taste, and a celebration of the fabulous interiors that Jasper Conran has created over many years. One of Conran’s lifelong passions has been English portraiture and the London sale is led by a portrait of Cecilia Neville by Robert Peake, portrait painter at the Elizabethan and Jacobean court. It is estimated at £500,000-£800,000. The top furniture lot, with an estimate of £200,000-£300,000, is an elegant pair of George III gilt console tables after a design by Thomas Chippendale.
Among the highlights are the magnificent Longleat giltwood chandelier, c1720-30, attributed to Benjamin Goodison, the court cabinet-maker of theday: a George II grey-painted pier mirror c1735-40, in the manner of William Kent; a pair of early George III white-painted simulated bamboo window seats by William Vile and John Cobb, signed by Vile’s nephew the cabinet maker William Strickland, dated 1764 and made for Forde Abbey, Somerset; a George II mahogany serpentine sofa attributed to Paul Saunders, c1755-60; the Rousham wall brackets, a pair of George II mahogany wall brackets designed and supplied by William Kent, c1740 and the late 19th century Medici Vase.
CIRCA 1780, POSSIBLY IRISH. Courtesy CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2021. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £23,750
A number of Irish or possibly Irish lots are included in the main sale. Among them are lot 18, a pair of Irish George II side chairs; lot 107, a George II giltwood mirror; lot 143, an Irish white marble and scagliola Bossi chimneypiece; lot 168, a set of six George II dining chairs; lot 179, a c1760 elliptical side table and lot 194, an Irish brass bound and mahogany wine cooler. Jasper Conran, who had long relationships with the writer Bruce Chatwin and the fashion designer John Galliano has, since 2015, been married to the Irish artist and filmmaker Oisin Byrne. Jasper Conran OBE has designed collections of womens wear, for the home, and productions for the stage in ballet, opera and theatre.