Welsh baron makes £2.5m by auctioning prized possessions
AWELSH baron sold treasured family heirlooms totalling £2,599,038 at auction last night to pay for the restoration of his home.
Lord Harlech put more than 500 prized possessions up for sale, including antiques, a vintage car and a motorbike.
The current Lord Harlech, 29-yearold Jasset Ormsby Gore, decided to sell the items to raise funds to restore his family home of Glyn Cywarch in Talsarnau, Gwynedd, which he inherited after his father’s death in February last year.
The auction was held last night at Bonhams in London and the collection, called The Property of Lord Harlech Sale, earned the accolade of “white glove” status meaning every one of the 531 lots was sold.
The sale featured 531 items in total varying from important furniture, Old Master paintings, an historic library and antique jewellery.
The marathon auction lasted up to 10 hours and the total funds raised reached more than two and a half times the pre-sale estimate.
Speaking before the auction, Harvey Cammell, deputy chairman of Bonhams UK, said “family collections of this calibre rarely appear at auction”.
Highlights of the sale included an important, newly-discovered portrait by Marcus Gheeraerts, court painter to Elizabeth I, that earned £269,000 against an estimate of £60,000 and 80,000.
The portrait, which was painted in 1597, shows Ellen Maurice, a prominent Welsh heiress and Harlech ancestor, whose pearls and jewellery are worth the equivalent of £1m in today’s market.
The Kennedy-Harlech Papers, which include heartfelt personal letters between Jackie Kennedy and David Ormsby Gore, Lord Harlech, sold in the room to a private buyer for £100,000.
Two Elizabeth I joined oak three-tier buffets, dated around 1580-1600, also made £140,500 against an estimate of between £35,000 and £45,000.
Irish artist Daniel Quigley’s portrait of The Godolphin Arabian, one of three Eastern stallions from which all modern racehorses descend, made more than five times its estimate. The piece eventually sold for £100,000.
A 1936 Rapier 10Hp Tourer, a rare British sports car, also sold for £31,500.
It is one of only 300 that has have been built and it was originally estimated to be sold for between £20,000 and £25,000.