An Opulent Aesthetic: An Important Private Collection from an English Country House

The interiors of this English country house were an opulent reinterpretation of the traditional country house style. They reflected the collector’s notable eye for excellence, connoisseurship and taste, providing a luxurious retreat from the city, where country sports could be enjoyed and friends entertained on a grand scale. The enfilade of principal reception rooms, painted in bold colours, gave a spectacular backdrop for the important yet eclectic collection being offered here for sale.

Each room had its own distinct identity - from the formal Venetian overtones of the red drawing room to the more relaxed comfort of the bar, with its layered salon hang of dog pictures completing the highly distinctive mise-en-scène. The objects and paintings which inhabited these grand spaces represent some of the great artistic movements of the 18th and 19th centuries. Important works range from paintings by John Constable to Alfred de Dreux, which sat coherently alongside important French 18th century furniture attributed to makers such as Oeben, Dubois and Cresson. The sale also includes clocks, porcelain, silver, soft furnishings and lighting with many works boasting illustrious provenance, coming from important English, European and American collections such as the Alberto Bruni Tedeschi collection and those of the Lords Hesketh at Easton Neston and the Sackville family at Knole.