Almost 300 lots from the estate of Mary Soames (1922-2014) – youngest daughter of Winston and Clementine Churchill – will come up at Sotheby’s in London on December 17. Mary Soames and the legacy of Churchill will include a group of 15 paintings by her father. These have been described by art historian David Coombs as “a sublime group of some of the best of Churchill’s work and his most important subjects.” The sale of almost 300 lots will cover British paintings (Modern and Victorian), decorative arts (English furniture, ceramics, silver, objects of vertue), books and manuscripts and photographs. Estimates range from £40 to £400,000.
Mary Soames bequeathed her personal papers to the Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College Cambridge. It was also Lady Soames’ wish that the important Winston Churchill paintings and other memorabilia she had loaned to Chartwell, her childhood home (now owned by the National Trust), and to other public venues, should stay in place and on public view. Consequently, this body of 38 paintings, described by David Coombs as “a national treasure of major historical and artistic importance”, will be offered to the nation in lieu of inheritance tax.
Mary Spencer-Churchil served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II, manning anti-aircraft batteries in London, Belgium and Germany. She accompanied her father on several of his most important trips, including to the 1945 Potsdam Conference, where Churchill, Stalin and US President Harry Truman discussed the future of post-war Germany and Europe. Later, as wife of Christopher Soames (prominent Conservative politician who served as minister under Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home and Margaret Thatcher) , she found herself first in Paris, lobbying hard for British membership of the EC. Soon after she was in in Rhodesia, addressing guerrillas prior to the handover of power to Mugabe and his associates in 1980. Sotheby’s sale in London in December will include many of the personal possessions that Mary Soames lived with in her home in Holland Park.
Sir Winston Spencer Churchill
The Goldfish Pool at Chartwell, 1932
Oil on canvas, 25 by 30in.
est. £400,000-600,000
Copyright © Churchill Heritage Ltd UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £1,762,500
Sir Winston Spencer Churchill,
The Weald of Kent under snow, circa 1935
Oil on canvas, 20 by 24in.
Est. £250,000-350,000
Copyright © Churchill Heritage Ltd UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £626,500
Sir Winston Spencer Churchill,
Tapestries at Blenheim, circa 1930
Oil on canvas, 25 by 30in.
Est. £200,000-300,000
Copyright © Churchill Heritage Ltd. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £1,082,500