Derbyshire, UK - The Duke of Devonshire, one of the UK's wealthiest aristocrats, is planning to auction unwanted items found in storage at Chatsworth, his stately home in Derbyshire.

Maev Kennedy of the Guardian reports that, 'for over two hundred years, the Dukes of Devonshire called a splendid, William Kent-designed London mansion home. When Devonshire House, as it was known, was razed in 1925 the family removed much of the mansion's contents, its pictures, furnishing, and many of its architectural elements, to the even more imposing, 300-room Chatsworth in Derbyshire. Since that time, much of this loot has sat in Chatsworth's vast attics, along with relics from others of their houses. This October, in a three-day sale at Chatsworth, Sotheby's will sell 20,000 of these items in 1400 lots expected to bring $3.8 million. The Duke needs the space, he explained.

The items to be auctioned at Chatsworth at the start of October include architectural salvage of the highest order: large chunks of Devonshire House, the London seat of the duke's ancestors, which was demolished in the 1920s. Star lots include a "magnificent" carved white marble chimney piece from 1735 by architect William Kent, priced at £200,000 to £300,000.

Among the sale's more unusual offerings is a huge bookcase, estimated to fetch as much as $120,000 that concealed a secret passage to a room off the nursery in which the future George IV conducted an illicit affair. The breadth of the sale is a window into the scale and opulence with which Britain's uber-rich aristocracy has lived. It's also a nod to the work of William Kent, who designed much of the ornamentation being offered. "The sale will provide a unique opportunity to acquire examples of the work of one of England's greatest architects," says Sotheby's Harry Dalmeny. It is, he added, "an opportunity that is unlikely ever to be repeated."

Guardian
Sotheby's

Story Type:  News

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