LONDON, ENGLAND.- Sir Elton John is world-famous as a rock-star, an entertainer and a philanthropist. He is also well-known as a passionate collector and in 1988 Sotheby’s held a three-day sale of nearly 2000 lots of memorabilia, jewelry and works of art from his Old Windsor estate. At the time, Sotheby’s then Chairman, Lord Gowrie predicted that “Elton the Collector” would start again and happily for collectors everywhere, and for Sotheby’s, he was right. On Tuesday, September 30, 2003, Sotheby’s New Bond Street will offer the contents of Sir Elton’s Holland Park home. The collection is estimated to fetch in excess of £800,000.
Elton bought the house in 1992 and over the last 11 years it has played a vital role in his life. He first used this house when he embarked on his rehabilitation from drugs and alcohol, and for him the house will always be associated with his successful battle to defeat that addiction. Thereafter the memories are dramatically different with celebrities visiting and staying at the house including Lulu and Kevin Spacey, as well as world figures such as Bill Clinton. It was also from this house that Elton and David Furnish left for Elton’s 50th birthday party held at the Hammersmith Palais in such dramatic fancy dress that they had to travel in a furniture van. However, things move on and the time has come to remodel the house hence the decision to have a sale of the contents.
As Elton said: “My love of contemporary art and photography is well-documented. I wanted to have the opportunity to display more contemporary work in one of my UK homes, but as my house in Windsor has a very traditional style, the obvious choice was to remodel my Holland Park home, both in terms of layout and interior design, to give me more scope for exhibiting this collection.”
More than 400 lots to be sold on September 30 include elegant and stylish furniture, paintings and works of art. Every room in the house is filled with objects which will appeal to a wide range of collectors.
The sale features a good selection of Biedermeier furniture from the first quarter of the 19th century, which includes chests of drawers, chairs, console tables and an unusual longcase clock. The furniture is in a variety of light woods, such as birch and satin birch, as in the beautifully architectural satin birch, ebony and ebonised secretaire estimated at £5,000-8,000.
Among a fine group of early 16th and 17th century pictures is a Portrait of a lady with her son, attributed to Edward Bower, which is estimated at £20,000-30,000 and a Portrait of Elizabeth Honeywood from the Circle of William Larkin, which is estimated at £30,000-40,000.
A bronze sculpture of Alexander the Great on horseback, cast by the Neapolitan foundry Sabatino de Angelis, is estimated at £1,500-2,000 and stands alongside sculptures of a number of other great leaders such as a small gilt-bronze bust of Napoleon which is estimated at £800-1,200.
The room known as the Library doubles as a gym and cinema. The furnishings, which will all be included in the auction, feature some fine examples of Venetian glass from the 1930s, such as a large Barovier and Toso gilt speckled vase, circa 1935, which is estimated at £4,000-6,000 and a Venini ‘Pezzato’ (patchwork) vase, from the 1950s, which is estimated at £2,000-3,000. There are also some more contemporary pieces, as well as furniture and pictures of the 1930s.
Of particular interest are two bronzes by the Italian sculptor Vincenzo Gemito, one of ‘Dionysus’ and the other of ‘L’Acquaiolo’, which are estimated at £6,000-8,000 and £4,000-6,000 respectively. On the wall hangs a Portrait of Lieutenant George Dyer by James Northcote, R.A. (1746-1831) which is estimated at £30,000-40,000.
In Elton’s bedroom hangs an important work by the 19th-century French artist Jacques-Noël-Marie Frémy, which was exhibited at the 1814 Paris Salon, and is estimated at £12,000-18,000. The painting depicts the Duc d’Artois, who was Louis XVIII’s brother (later King Charles X), entering Paris.
An impressively modeled bust of Napoleon by Italian sculptor Ambrogio Colombo is estimated at £2,000-3,000 and a satin birch wood chest of drawers veneered so skillfully as to give the impression of tortoiseshell is estimated at £1,000-1,500.
The magnificent suite of bedroom furniture commissioned by renowned designer David Linley includes a pair of wardrobes, a double bed and a pair of bedside tables. The furniture is veneered and inlaid in blonde woods. From the same room is a banquette and pair of tub chairs upholstered in a striking faux leopard-skin fabric. Estimates range from £800-8,000.
