Treasures are If you urgently need to kit out a mansion, this auction is your one-stop shop

HERE’S a curious conundrum: an anonymous buyer pays a reported £8 million to purchase one of Britain’s finest stately homes with the avowed intent to restore it for his young family and the local community as “a model of how an important historic estate such as this can be managed, in the 21st century”. Then he announces he is to auction off its contents.

Perhaps he’s not a fan of fine 18th-century English and continental furniture, tapestries, paintings, porcelain and works of art, whatever the explanation, 200 lots from the extraordinary Grade 1-listed Mawley Hall will be sold on September 11-12.

It will be sad to see the interiors of what has been described as Shropshire’s Baroque masterpiece stripped of their treasures, but that’s progress I suppose. The flip side is that dealers and collectors will rejoice at the opportunity offered by the sale at Cambridge auctioneers Cheffins.

Cheffins director Luke Macdonald said: “We are expecting a lot of interest in the Mawley Hall consignment, given the high quality of the lots on offer and that they are fresh to the market. The consignment augments a strong catalogue at one of our flagship sales of the year.”

Among the expected highlights from the consignment are:

IN FURNITURE AND FURNISHINGS

A mid-18th century Altona Padouk and parcel gilt bombe secretaire cabinet, 271cm high, estimate £15,000-£25,000

George I carved pinewood serpentine console table, 128cm wide, £4,000-£6,000

George III mahogany ‘Chinese Chippendale’ longcase clock, by Henry Hindley, York, £2,500 - £4,000

Louis XV Aubusson verdure tapestry, 280cm x 381cm, £2,000£4,000,

Zeigler carpet, circa 1880, 774cm x 462cm, £10,000 -£15,000

PAINTINGS

Johannes Bosschaert (Dutch, 16061629). A stone urn on steps decorated with flowers and fruit beside a dolphin-headed spouting fountain in an extensive landscape, oil on canvas, estimate £20,000-£30,000

Henryk Cieszkowski (Polish, 19th century), The Colosseum, Rome, signed, inscribed and dated H Cieszkowski, Roma, 1874, oil on canvas, 69cm x 132cm, £3,000-£5,000

Attributed to Jakob Bogdani (Hungarian, 1660-1724), a Muscovy duck, mallard, shelduck, pochard, and a ruff with a kingfisher in a river landscape, oil on canvas, £4,000£6,000

European School, circa 1700, an equestrian portrait traditionally said to be Muhammad ben Haddu, oil on canvas, £3,000-£5,000

Follower of Jacob Bunel (French, 1558-1614), portrait of King Henri IV of France (1553-1610), standing full-length, in black, wearing the insignia of the Order of Saint-Esprit, at a green-covered table, his hand upon a letter, £3,000-£5,000

PAINTINGS

Chinese export armorial part dinner service, Qianlong (1736-95), the central arms of Watts impaling Carter surrounded by flowers and family motto ‘Pour la Foy’ on a cartouche below, with the crest of a greyhound holding a spear, estimate £5,000£8,000

Tournai plate, circa 1763, painted in puce by Michel-Joseph Duvivier, the central vignette with a coastal scene with a galleon setting sail and a group of figures in the foreground, £1,000-£2,000

WORKS OF ART

Set of four Louis XVI style ormolu three-branch wall-lights, in the manner of Gouthiere, each backplate with musical trophy, satyr mask, garlands, serpent and ribbon-tied drapery with ram’s mask finial, estimate £1,500-£2,500

Set of four Regency toleware tea canisters, decorated with Chinese

Right: Mawley Hall – Shropshire’s Baroque masterpiece and some of the paintings and furniture in the sale in situ in the sumptuous sitting room. Johannes Bosschaert. Stone urn with flowers, fruit and fountain Jakob Bogdani. Muscovy duck, mallard, shelduck, pochard, and a ruff with a kingfisher Early 19th century Régence-style chandelier For sale: The bombe secretaire cabinet, left, Chinese Chippendale longcase clock and toleware tea canisters, fitted as lamps, below

STAYING in Shropshire, collectors of the work of acclaimed bird and wildlife artist Charles Tunnicliffe (1901-1979) are invited to attend a talk and special view of some of his works by Ken Broughton, Secretary of the Charles Tunnicliffe Society, on Friday, September 13, prior to their sale at Shrewsbury auctioneers Halls. The 20-minute presentation will start at 11am and the paintings will be available to view between 10am and noon. The private collection of 25 pencil and watercolour drawings by the famed Anglesey, North Wales, artist and a handwritten letter describing time spent by a lake watching ducks will be sold on Wednesday, September 18. Each has a guide price of £300-£500. The image, right, shows an Asiatic breed of fancy domestic pigeon known as a Yellow Jacobin. For more information: Halls, telephone 01743 450700.