From a £250k dinosaur to a £35k Kate Moss portrait, it’s all up for grabs as the owners of an eccentric stately pile sell up and hold...
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DAVID WILKES
FROM a 65 millionyear- old dinosaur skull to cutting-edge modern design, not for nothing has Aynhoe Park been dubbed a museum crossed with a fantasy world.
Indeed, ‘Downton meets Wonderland’ i s how some have described the interior of the 17th-century Oxfordshire mansion, which played host to Jade Jagger’s wedding and Noel Gallagher’s 50th birthday party.
Much of the collection is going up for auction now the house’s owners — James and Sophie Perkins — are set to move.
Nearly 700 lots — ranging from a triceratops skull expected to fetch up to £250,000, to three toy cars offered with an estimate of £100 — are expected to sell for up to £2 million.
Mr Perkins, 50, who made his fortune from promoting Nine
The Aynhoe Unicorn — a preserved horse presented as the mythical creature with fantasy tack. Estimate £5,000£8,000 ties raves, bought Aynhoe Park in 2006, and with his wife set about renovating the house while amassing the family’s unusual collection. He said: ‘ Aynhoe Park is furnished with a collection of iconic objects and curiosities from our travels across the globe. It has been my passion, as well as a family home.’ Mr and Mrs Perkins and their three children are set to move to their next project, restoring Grade I-listed Parnham House in Dorset, which was largely destroyed in a suspected arson attack in 2017. THE Aynhoe auction is on January 20-21. The full catalogue is at dreweatts. com/auctions/ aynhoepark-auction
A Burchell’s zebra modelled as a rocking horse and mounted on a mahogany base — estimate £3,000-5,000
The Flying Giraffe — suspended from five large glass balloons — became ‘Aynhoe’s mascot’. Estimate £10,000-£15,000
Items for sale in the games room include the pool table, estimate £800-£1,200; iron hanging lantern, £4,000-£6,000; Tintin model, £3,000-5,000; yellow leather tub chairs, £400-£600
Kate Moss print with hand-applied Swarovski crystals by artist Chris Levine, estimate £30,000-£35,000
‘Downton meets Wonderland’: Aynhoe Park, the 17th-century Palladian mansion whose collection of weird and wonderful objects is up for sale
Grand designs: James Perkins, seated on one of a pair of antler thrones (£1,000-£2,000), wife Sophie, children (from left) Beau, Luna and Lyon, and the family’s butler
Large white painted fourposter bed with canopy — £5,000-£8,000
A grand red leather high-backed armchair, bearing the Queen’s cypher, EIIR, in gilt and stamped underneath with the date July 1968. Expected to fetch £2,000-£4,000
Skull of a triceratops, a 30ft herbivore which roamed the Earth 65 million years ago. Expected to sell for up to £250,000
San Demas chair by Mark Brazier-Jones, who has made pieces for Elton John. Estimate £4,000-£6,000
On the East Stairs, items for sale include a preserved lioness, £1,500£2,500, and a print by renowned street artist Stik, £40,000-£60,000
In bedroom four, there is a plaster cast of the goddess Juno, £3,000-£5,000; corner sofa, £800-£1,200; Murano chandelier £2,000-£4,000; French zigzag coffee table, £4,000-£6,000
An unassembled Airfix model like this toy Aston Martin DBR1, a tribute to the car’s victory in the 1959 Le Mans race, is included in the sale, estimate £10,000-£15,000
16-light Murano glass chandelier by Venetian company Barovier & Toso — £7,000-£10,000