THE CONTENTS OF LOWOOD HOUSE, LYON & TURNBULL

6TH OCTOBER

The much-anticipated sale of the contents of Lowood House at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh is expected to be popular, with over 400 varied lots to bid on. ‘It’s a rare occasion these days for a whole house contents to come onto the market, completely fresh and unseen,’ says Gavin Strang, head of sale, whose job it has been to catalogue and photograph every item going under the hammer. Located on the banks of the River Tweed in Melrose, Scotland, Lowood was home to the Hamilton family from 1947 and represents their taste in furnishings, as well as that of an earlier Glaswegian branch of the family, the Crum-Ewings. Expect a stream of ne furniture and objects, including sets of dining chairs, occasional tables, runners, a magni cent early 19thcentury glass chandelier, ceramics, silver, Old Master paintings and a library of ancient books. Estimates start around £200 and go up to £50,000.

A copy of David Roberts’ three-volume elephant folio about Egypt and Nubia, published in the mid 19th century, may fetch £50,000, and is displayed with an Egyptian ‘cartonnage’ mummy mask made of layers of linen or papyrus.