An £80k bed? Welcome to Conran’s sale of the century

He became a household name in his 20s as Princess Diana’s favourite designer, and later created the wedding dress for Princess margaret’s daughter, Lady Sarah armstrong-Jones.

Now aficionados of Jasper conran — son of late Habitat founder Sir Terence conran and Superwoman author Shirley conran — are about to have a unique chance to own some of his own personal treasures. For I can disclose that conran junior is auctioning the entire contents of his exquisite 23,000 sq ft, six-bedroom apartment at New Wardour castle, Wiltshire. The threeday auction, which will be conducted both in the sale room and online in September, promises to be one of the highlights in christie’s calendar.

It’s an extraordinary treasury, emblematic of conran’s unerring eye and encyclopaedic knowledge of 18th century artistry. One of the most highly prized lots comes from the bedroom which Jasper shared with his husband, Irish artist Oisin byrne, 24 years his junior, whom he married at Wardour in 2015. It’s the couple’s George I chintz-cotton and velvet tester bed, dating from 1725, and is expected to fetch £80,000.

Other eye-catching items in the 500-lot auction include three pairs of George III giltwood armchairs embellished with needlework representations of aesop’s fables, each pair bearing an £18,000 estimate, and a George II heraldic console table, with an estimate of £20,000-30,000.

Or, for those with an appetite for something a little older, there are four chinese blue and white Kraak porcelain items believed to date from the 16th or 17th century, and expected to sell for £4,000.

Some have expressed astonishment that 61-year-old conran could bear to bid farewell to Wardour. aside from the intense personal connection which he and byrne had with their apartment, which they sold for £4 million, it boasts what conran describes as ‘possibly the best staircase in england, if not the world’.

but it seems morocco beckons, so everything must go.

In 2019, conran acquired Villa mabrouka, Yves Saint Laurent’s old house in Tangier on the country’s mediterranean coast, which he is intent on transforming into one of the world’s most chic hotels.