LONDON.- Bonhams sale in London on 30 June of the selected contents of Château de Villers-Helon and items from the collection of a French dynastic family offers the opportunity to acquire spectacular artworks associated with a magnificent property.

House sales are always popular and Charlie Thomas, Bonhams director of Bonhams House Sales and Private Collections department, explained the reason. “We’re all fascinated by history and house sales provide the chance to buy into the past. This sale for example contains all kinds of objects from extravagantly ornate Italian furniture to French clocks, chandeliers and wall decoration to suits of armour and family portraits. There is also a small collection of wonderful seascapes including a view of the harbour at Trouville by the French master Eugène Boudin.”

The Château Villers-Helon, 50 miles north east of Paris, has a distinguished history and since its construction in 1135 has served as a Templar safe house; a home to French Royalty and nobility; a shoe factory and a billet for Prussian soldiers during the Franco-Prussian war and German forces in the First and Second World Wars.

Among its many treasures are an impressive north Italian late 19th century carved giltwood bed (£2,500 - 3,500); an Italian mid-19th century giltwood and gesso console table at £5,000 - 7,000 and a Louis XIV Boulle bracket clock (£1,200 - 1,800).

From the collection of the French dynastic family come a fine late 17th century French travel clock (£5,000 - 7,000); a 17th century black and white scagliola table top on a walnut base (£6,000-10,000) and an early 18th century Rouen fiancé plate (£12,000 - 18,0000).

The strong selection of paintings in the sale includes, Trouville, le port by Eugène Boudin (£40,000 - 60,000); La Seine à Paris by Armand Guillaumin (£30,000 - 50,000) and Neige en Ile de France by the same artist (£18,000 - 25,000).