Lot 209
209
THREE PAPIER-MACHE LARGE ANIMAL MASKS
THREE PAPIER-MACHE LARGE ANIMAL MASKS
THREE PAPIER-MACHE LARGE ANIMAL MASKS
THREE PAPIER-MACHE LARGE ANIMAL MASKS
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This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal.… Read more THE COLLECTION OF THE LATE MICHAEL HOWELLS (1957-2018) LOTS 209-231Michael Howells was quite simply, a genius, who worked in a pre-digital age. Born in 1957 he was a 360 degree artist, ambidextrous and utterly complete in his talent, able to tread seamlessly between the disciplines of fashion, theatre, ballet and film with a brilliance that enabled him to create some of the most spectacular and ambitious sets in these fields. “The only person I can think of who was comparable in their range, scope, vivacity and imagination was Cecil Beaton,” Stephen Fry once said. “I get paid to fantasise” Michael used to say. And oh, what an imagination. His flat in Notting Hill, where all the items in this catalogue once lived was permanently lit as if it were dusk, the carpet littered with drawings, every surface covered with an idea. The giant damask covered thrones (lot 212) he made for the film Ever After (he worked on over twenty films including the masterpieces Orlando and Shackleton) sat either side of the fireplace. Drawings for the next Galliano fashion show he was staging - and which no one who was there would ever forget - would be tucked behind a picture. Papier-mâché cat, goat and rabbit masks (lot 209) created to sit atop statuary for the 2006 Dior haute couture show in Versailles sat in the window, making it impossible to draw the shutters open, not that he ever did. To get to the garden you would have to step over a model for a new Ballet Rambert stage set. Up before dawn, by 7am he would often have done a full day's work and probably rehung all the pictures. Cow parsley, beech leaves and alchemila molis would fill vases in his bedroom. No tent pole, flower pot or table was safe from being “mossed up” a reminder of how he would bring the great outdoors into tents, ballrooms and stately homes as the mastermind at the vanguard of the big party fantasias of the last forty years. The sound of Elgar or show tunes would drift up the stairs, lined with black and white photographs by Angus McBean, Horst B. Horst and Mario Testino (lots 225, 230 and 231. I don’t think there are many people like Michael anymore. Nor will there ever be. Catherine, Countess of St Germans, 2019
THREE PAPIER-MACHE LARGE ANIMAL MASKS

BY MICHAEL HOWELLS, CIRCA 2006

Details
THREE PAPIER-MACHE LARGE ANIMAL MASKS
BY MICHAEL HOWELLS, CIRCA 2006
Modelled as a goat, coat and rabbit
The goat: 51 in. (129.5 cm.) high
Special Notice
This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

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Benedict Winter
Benedict Winter
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Lot Essay

These masks were created by Michael Howells for John Galliano, for the Autumn/Winter 2007 Dior show.

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