LONDON.- Sotheby’s announced today that it will present property from the celebrated collections formed by the Dukes of Northumberland in a series of sales in London throughout 2014. From their historic homes at Alnwick Castle and Syon House the items to be sold span a wide range of periods and media from Roman sculpture to Old Masters and rare books and manuscripts, as well as works of art from Europe, South East Asia and the Islamic world. While almost every object to be offered has a story to tell, all have been selected with a careful view to protecting the overall integrity of the Northumberland Collections. In the wake of the Newburn flooding, and with the costs of repairing the damaged culvert there now settled, proceeds from the forthcoming sales will allow for investment in the Estates’ long term heritage projects to continue unhindered. Together, the 80 or so lots to be sold by the Trustees of the Northumberland Estates carry a combined estimate in excess of £15 million.
Henry Wyndham, Chairman, Sotheby’s Europe commented: “The extraordinary depth and richness of the Northumberland Collection is legendary. Charting not only the Percy family’s history over an entire millennium, but also important moments in the artistic development of many schools and nations, the Collection ranks among the finest private art collections in the world. While the pieces to be sold are all of enormous interest and beauty, they have been carefully selected so as to ensure the overall integrity of the Northumberland collection remains intact.”
The selection is spearheaded by a supreme marble statue of Aphrodite, reign of Claudius, circa 41-54 A.D. Purchased by Hugh Percy, Earl of Northumberland, created 1st Duke of Northumberland in 1773, this Roman masterpiece will be offered in the sale “Treasures: Princely Taste” on 9 July, with an estimate of £4-6 million.
In the same sale will be a marble topped commode by William Kent, one of Britain’s greatest architects and designers. Dating from around 1740, this exceptional piece of furniture epitomises the austere grandeur of early 18th-century English furniture (est. £800,000-1.2 million.
Among the paintings to be presented in the Evening sale of Old Master and British Paintings on 9 July are two works formerly in the Camuccini Collection, an ensemble of outstanding works purchased by the 4th Duke of Northumberland in Rome in 1856 and representing one of the last great acquisitions made by an Englishman travelling to Italy. The first - Jan Brueghel the Elder’s The Garden of Eden – dated 1613 and painted on copper - is both a supreme example of this master’s art and depicts one of his most prized subjects. Only six recorded paintings by the Flemish artist of this subject are recorded, other examples being in the Royal Collection at Hampton Court, The Louvre, the Getty Museum and the Doria Pamphilj Gallery, Rome (est. £2-3 million.
A leaf of a diptych depicting episodes from the lives of the Virgin Mary and other saints by Giovanni da Rimini, also formerly in the Camuccini Collection, dates from circa 1300-05, a pivotal moment in European painting. The beautifully preserved panel, painted in tempera on gold ground, documents the transition from the Byzantine-inspired tradition of the dark ages to the more lyrical and naturalistic art that would herald the dawn of the Renaissance in western Europe (est. £2-3 million).
From a different place and era is a fascinating portrait of Mohawk War Chieftain Thayendanegea (to whom the English gave the name Joseph Brant), commissioned by Hugh Percy, the 2nd Duke of Northumberland from the American artist, Gilbert Stuart in 1786 (est. £1-1.5 million). An interpreter for the British Indian Department, Brant assisted the British in the American War of Independence in order to regain land that had been lost by the Mohawk people. He fought alongside the 2nd Duke at the Battle of Long Island, New York in 1776 and was described at the time as “The perfect soldier, possessed of remarkable stamina, courage under fire, and dedicated to the cause, an able and inspiring leader and a complete gentleman.” Despite the fact that he was widely admired by many of his English compatriots, his closest, and indeed only, enduring friendship with a white man was with Hugh Percy.
The remarkable offering of rare books and manuscripts is led by The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, the first book ever to be printed in the English language. Printed circa 1473-74 in Flanders, probably in the town of Ghent, it is the very first production from the printing shop of William Caxton, the father of English printing. Caxton carried out the translation of a French text by Raoul Lefèvre at the request of Margaret of York shortly after her wedding to the duke of Burgundy in 1468. The book celebrates the glorious origins of the Burgundian dynasty in the time of Greek heroes, when Hercules passed through Burgundy and fathered a child who would found the dynasty. This is one of about only twenty recorded copies that survive. It will be presented in the Book sale on 15 July (est. £600,000-800,000).
Also included are two letters signed by Queen Elizabeth I, neither of which has any known connection to the Percy family. One of these letters, written to Viscount Hereford, one of the Queen’s most loyal servants in northern England, orders the removal of Mary, Queen of Scots, to the safety of Coventry at the outbreak of the Northern uprising in 1569 (est. £18,000-22,000). This rebellion aimed to place Mary, Elizabeth’s cousin, on the English throne.
The Dukes of Northumberland’s long tradition of art and cultural patronage is reflected in Edward William Lane’s monumental Arabic-English Lexicon, the most famous and comprehensive dictionary of its type ever compiled, published in eight volumes between 1862 and 1893. Widely regarded as an archive of international importance in the history of Middle Eastern studies, the Lexicon was commissioned by Lord Prudhoe, later 4th Duke of Northumberland (1792-1865) whose past travels in Egypt, the Levant, the Greek Islands, and possibly in Sinai and Palestine underpinned his strong interest in the region. Whilst copies of the original published volumes are rare, this particular copy is of extraordinary importance because it is accompanied by several additional volumes of original notes and records made by Lane while in Egypt in the 1840s. Estimated at £200,000-300,000, the Lexicon will be offered in the Arts of the Islamic World sale on 8 October 2014.
