Pieces of history: Aristocrat sells ‘time capsule’ treasures
Dunrobin Castle auction will include 450 fascinating historical objects
IT has been described as “a fascinating time capsule of domestic operations on a Downton Abbey scale”.
Now a leading Scottish aristocrat will sell off hundreds of family treasures this week.
The Dunrobin Attic Sale is to be held at Bonhams’ Scottish saleroom in Edinburgh on Tuesday.
Under instruction from the 25th Earl of Sutherland, the auction will include more than 450 lots, including paintings, portraits and historic photographs, picture frames, marble sculptures, crested dinner services, and an array of treasures from the castle’s kitchen and cellar.
Estimates have been set at a level that will enable as many people to take part as possible. Items range from £8,000-12,000 for a Portrait of the Duke of Brunswick by the Dutch Golden Age portraitist Jan van Ravesteyn, and £8,000-10,000 for a pair of Scottish all-metal flintlock belt pistols made by Alexander Campbell of Doune, in the third quarter of the 18th century, to £80-120 for a collection of pewter sugar moulds.
‘Downton Abbey scale’
WRITING in the winter edition of the Bonhams magazine, Mary Miers, the architectural writer and author of Highland Retreats: the Architecture and Interiors of Scotland’s Romantic North, gave a flavour of the objects in the sale. She said:“They represent a fascinating time capsule of domestic operations on a Downton Abbey scale.
“Maids’ bedrooms tucked into the eaves of the earlier ranges had been reconfigured to become porcelain stores, with rows of footbaths, floral jugs and washbasins, chamber pots and piles of crested dinner services, all jostling for space with meat domes, tiered oyster holders and untold numbers of copper vessels and glass carafes.
“The forthcoming Dunrobin Attic Sale offers an opportunity to own some of these glorious objects – tangible reminders of an astonishing chateau in the wilds that encapsulates stirring history, unbridled wealth and the romanticism of the Highlands.”
Charlie Thomas, director of house sales at Bonhams, said: “The Dunrobin Attic Sale provides a glorious opportunity to purchase a piece of history from one of Scotland’s grandest and most historic castles. Many of the items have been hidden away in Dunrobin Castle for generations and never been seen on the open market before.
“They provide a wonderful snapshot of what it was like to live both upstairs – and downstairs – in the Highlands’ premier ducal palace.”
Left £250k in £18m will
DUE to being born just a few minutes later, Martin Janson saw his twin brother Alistair become the 25th Earl of Sutherland and inherit the 120,000 acres of Dunrobin Castle when their mother died.
AND it was revealed that he had been left just £250,000 in the £18 million will that his mother, Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland, wrote three days before she died in December 2019, aged 98.
By contrast, his sister, Lady Annabel Bainton, was bequeathed £3.5m. Published probate documents confirm that the countess made a new will, determining the fate of her vast fortune, drawn up with the assistance of Farrer & Co, the Queen’s solicitors.
Elizabeth left £25,000 to each of her grandchildren, £10,000 to each of her great-grandchildren, and £5,000 both to Alistair’s current wife, Gillian, and to his first wife, Eileen. The bulk of the will has been left to trusts connected to the castle.
Elizabeth had inherited the castle when her uncle, the 5th Duke of Sutherland, died childless in 1963. The countess, who was also Chief of Clan Sutherland, was orphaned at the age of 10 before becoming, in quick succession, a Land Girl during WW2, a proficient linguist and an accomplished laboratory technician.
‘Fabulously wealthy’
THE first duke was the countess’s most famous ancestor, a fabulously wealthy man who, as heir to the third Duke of Bridgewater, had inherited coal mines and canal interests around Manchester and Liverpool, along with the Bridgewater collection of paintings, including works by Titian, Raphael and Rembrandt.
In Scotland, he was reviled for his association with the Highland Clearances and his 100ft statue on Ben Bhraggie has been the subject of controversy with many appeals for its demolition.
Managing director of Bonhams in Scotland, Charles Graham-Campbell, said: “Attic sales are always very popular, and the Dunrobin Attic Sale has everything – great provenance, fascinating items and of course a rare glimpse into a way of life, now long vanished. I am sure that many members of Clan Sutherland around the world and indeed ex-patriot Scots everywhere will be eager to take part in the sale. We are very much looking forward to what promises to be the highlight of our spring season.”
They give a snapshot of what it was like to live upstairs – and downstairs – in the Highlands’ premier ducal palace