Fellows Auctioneers Ltd

Ahead of Fellows' upcoming Antiques, Silver & Collectables sale, Madeleine Cater, Cataloguer from the Antiques Department, has highlighted the fascinating history behind some of the furniture up for sale.

Furniture from Althorp House, the home of the Spencer family, and Chatsworth House, the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, are to be sold in Fellows’ upcoming Antiques, Silver & Collectables sale, ending on Monday 5^th October 2020.

Althorp House, the Grade I listed stately home, has been residence to the Spencer family for over 500-years, and was first built in 1508. One of its most notable inhabitants in more recent history was Lady Diana Spencer, who lived here before her marriage to Prince Charles. She was later buried on an island in the estate grounds after her death in 1997. The house has over 90 rooms filled with precious antique furniture, paintings and ceramics, including the lots for sale at Fellows. These items were first auctioned by Christie’s Auction House in their 2010 ‘The Althorp Attic Sale – Including the Spencer Carriages’. The total realised price achieved for this sale was £21 million.

Barometer

Up for auction from the Althorp Estate is a stylish 19^th century mahogany and line inlaid wheel barometer with timepiece (Lot 678), and a pair of Louis XV-style stained beech framed armchairs (Lot 745), each with an estimate of £300 - £400.

The broken swan neck pediment of the barometer sits above a silvered dry / damp dial. It includes an arched silvered mercury filled thermometer scale, and a clock with white enamelled circular dial and black Roman numerals. There is also a circular silvered barometer dial, and a silvered level fitted with an alcohol filled tube.

Armchair

The Louis XV-style armchairs, upholstered in a striped champagne coloured material, are embroidered with green vine and leaf detail. The seats are of serpentine fronted shape, with loose matching cushions, and bergère cane panel open arms. They are all raised upon carved, slender cabriole supports.

Reading Table

Lovers of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice may recognise Chatsworth House as the setting for the 2005 adaptation of the novel. Lot 704 in Fellows' sale is a 19^th century rosewood reading table, with a label attached to it which reads ‘The Duke’s Dressing Room’. It has an estimate of £80 - £120. The adjustable rise-and-fall rectangular top is fitted with folding hinged book supports, upon a turned column support, and shaped platform base fitted with brass castors.

Chatsworth House has been home to the Cavendish family since 1549. Apart from its starring role alongside Kiera Knightley in 2005, the house has been privy to many key moments in British history such as serving as Mary, Queen of Scots’, prison in the sixteenth century. The reading table in Fellows’ upcoming sale was first auctioned by Sotheby’s in 2010.