Sworders’ Fine Interiors are proud to present selected pieces from six private collections in their 12-13 December auction. These collections, carefully accumulated over the course of many lifetimes with love and enthusiasm, offer a glimpse into the style and collecting habits of their original owners, and we are excited to share a taster of each one here for you to explore.
Sitting on consecrated ground on the banks of the River Blackwater, surrounded by open countryside and just under a mile from the bustling medieval market town of Coggeshall, The Abbey was home to Roger and Jill Hadlee, and a principal pillar in both their family and community lives, for twenty-five years. Their collection of furniture and works of art reflected the Abbey’s long and interesting history, including items from the 17th to 19th centuries, with Gothic and ecclesiastical pieces that sat perfectly within the building’s gently time-worn medieval brickwork.
Impressive and visually striking, the main building of Colne Priory is believed to have been built around 1825 for Henry Holgate Carwardine, later extended in the 19th century, and once again in 2007. Today, the historic manor’s interiors have been renovated with a modern twist, seamlessly blending the façade’s Gothic-inspired features with the clean lines of contemporary décor.
Nestled in the Suffolk countryside and boasting over seven hundred years of history, Middleton Hall was lovingly restored in the 1990s by its previous owners, including work on the Dining Room’s magnificent plaster ceiling by local craftsmen. The furniture and paintings in the house were carefully selected from antique fairs and dealers from across the UK, all with a 16th century flair, and the surrounding gardens were renovated to suit the historical feel of the house, designed with the traditional Tudor style in mind.
A little slice of Middleton Hall’s wonderful history has now come to us at Sworders, with lots being offered in Fine Interiors, as well as Homes and Interiors and Old Master, British and European Art in 2024.
A number of these lots were purchased from the Christie’s auction: ‘Kinross House, Scotland and Property Removed from The London Residence of Mrs. Winston Spencer Churchill’ in 2011. Winston Spencer Churchill, the only son of Randolph Churchill and his wife Pamela Harriman, was the grandson of Sir Winston Churchill, the notable former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Over the course of their marriage, Churchill and his wife Luce lovingly furnished their Belgrave Square apartment in the classic English country house taste, with stylish and comfortable pieces of furniture, works of art and paintings, some of which were inherited from his predecessors - these were the foundations on which the rest of their luxurious interior was built. The pieces purchased from the sale that are offered here are perfectly complemented by several others, all of which were chosen to adorn an elegant Mayfair residence.
Born in 1936 in Duisburg, Germany, Hildegard came to England in the 1950s where she studied Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. She was introduced to the world of textiles through her mother-in-law, Gwyneth Lloyd, a well-connected RADA-trained actress who had built up a strong reputation as an antique textiles dealer and expert, and went on to work as the lead conservator for Joss Graham Oriental Textiles from the early 1970s. Hildegard also travelled extensively herself, to India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkey and took great delight in sharing her experiences and knowledge in her later years with other textiles enthusiasts from her Suffolk home.
The Fine Interiors team feel privileged that, once again, we have been entrusted to move items on to new homes from Sir Rod’s distinctive compilation of art and interior décor. The selection of items included in this sale comprises a mix of modern, vintage and antique pieces from his family home in the Essex countryside many of which have been purchased by Rod himself at auction houses, galleries and antiques shops, from across the UK and internationally.
