LONDON.- In July 2017 Christie’s will offer for auction the collection of Raine, Countess Spencer (1929-2016). Lady Spencer, the only daughter of celebrated romantic novelist Dame Barbara Cartland, enjoyed a position at the centre of London society for over 60 years, having been named Deb of the Year in 1947. She had an appreciation of the fine and decorative arts; 18th century France was of special interest, and she assembled a collection of paintings by some of the greatest artists of that period, including Boucher, Fragonard and Vernet. Lady Spencer also collected fine furniture on which she displayed ormolu clocks, objets d’art and Chinese works of art – including intricately carved jades; the Art Deco was also a period of particular inspiration. Highlights from Lady Spencer’s important collection of French 18th century Old Master paintings will be offered for sale at Christie’s King Street on 6 July as part of the Old Masters Evening Sale, followed by a dedicated collection sale on 13 July: The Collection of Raine, Countess Spencer. The sale will offer a glimpse of the interiors of Lady Spencer’s London house and will feature furniture, Old Master paintings, objets d’art and jades as well as a selection of couture, jewellery and accessories from her personal wardrobe.

The only child of Alexander McCorquodale and the novelist Dame Barbara Cartland, Lady Spencer was a politician and a socialite. Like her mother and grandmother before her, she was a woman of extraordinary determination and energy, gifts which she applied to politics and public service. In 1954, at the age of 23, she became the youngest member ever to be elected to Westminster City Council. She subsequently played an instrumental role in the saving of historic buildings, most notably as Chair of the Covent Garden Development Committee and as Chairman of the Greater London Council’s Historic Buildings Board. Lady Spencer had a long and fruitful association with Harrods, she was a much loved director and ambassador of the iconic store. She took her job very seriously and until the very end of her life combined her work at Harrods Real Estate with a Saturday shift at the men's shirts department in Knightsbridge and made frequent visits to the airport shops, even on Christmas Day.

Lady Spencer had four children by her first husband, Gerald Legge, later Viscount Lewisham and The 9th Earl of Dartmouth, whom she married in 1948. Following their divorce, she went on to marry John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer, in 1976 and became stepmother to his children, including Diana, Princess of Wales. After Lord Spencer’s death in 1992, Lady Spencer married Comte Jean-François Pineton de Chambrun. The couple parted in 1995.

The auctions this July offer a unique opportunity to view Lady Spencer’s private world, and to acquire works of art collected over the years by one of the most colourful social figures of the twentieth century.

18th CENTURY OLD MASTER PAINTINGS
Highlights from Lady Spencer’s collection of French 18th century Old Master paintings will be offered in the Old Masters Evening Sale on 6 July. Leading this group is a scene by Claude Joseph Vernet of A Mediterranean sea-port with fishermen unloading cargo (estimate: £300,000-500,000). A further highlight is Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s bozzetto, The goddess Aurora triumphs over night, announcing Apollo in his chariot, while Morpheus sleeps (estimate: £150,000-200,000). Further Old Master paintings will feature in the dedicated collection sale on 13 July such as Jan Abrahamsz Beerstraaten’s View of the Munttoren on the frozen Anstel, Amsterdam, with figures skating (estimate: £40,000-60,000).

FURNITURE & DECORATIVE OBJECTS
The dedicated collection sale on 13 July will include fine furniture and ormolu-mounted objets d’art that adorned Lady Spencer’s London house. Highlights from this part of the auction include a pair of late 18th century ormolu-mounted agate vases, probably Scandinavian or Russian (estimate: £20,000-40,000); a Louis XVI commode, attributed to Antoine-Pierre Foullet, circa 1770-75 (estimate: £60,000-90,000) and a late Louis XVI ormolu mantel clock, circa 1795-1800 (estimate: £25,000-40,000).

THE DINING ROOM
A renowned hostess, The Collection of Raine, Countess Spencer offers a glimpse of Lady Spencer’s glamorous Art Deco London dining room. The sale includes a French Art Deco rosewood and ebonised dining suite (estimate: £2,000-3,000), a Royal Worcester table-service commissioned for Claridge's hotel (estimate: £800-1,200) – Lady Spencer frequently took tea at Claridges – and a George III silver soup-tureen from the Service of Thomas, 2nd Baron de Grey (estimate: £7,000-10,000).

FASHION & JEWELLERY
The couture, jewellery and accessories from Lady Spencer's personal wardrobe are a key feature of the 13 July sale and showcase her personal style.

Highlights include: a blister pearl necklace, which Lady Spencer wears in a photograph with her mother, Dame Barbara Cartland, in the late 1950s (estimate: £15,000-25,000); an 18 carat gold, ruby and diamond parure by Van Cleef & Arpels (estimate: £100,000-150,000); a dinner dress, probably by Pierre Balmain, a favoured couturier, with white lace bodice and red and white striped organza skirt (estimate: £1,000-2,000) and a black leather ‘Lady Dior’ handbag with studwork decoration is one of a number of handbags featured in the sale (estimate: £1,000-1,500).