BONHAMS TO OFFER HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE COLLECTION OF LADY GLENCONNER

Left: Lady Glenconner. Right: Thomas Smith of Derby (British, 1715-1767), The Cullen Arabian held by a groom, before a landscape with classical ruins. Estimate: £50,000 - 70,000.

LADY GLENCONNER: MY LIFE IN OBJECTS WILL TAKE PLACE 18 NOVEMBER AT BONHAMS IN LONDON

London – From being Maid of Honour at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and Lady in Waiting to her childhood friend Princess Margaret, to hosting rockstars on her husband’s private island of Mustique, facing great personal tragedies, and literary success, Lady Glenconner is a woman with many stories to tell. Now items from her personal collection will go up to auction as part of Bonhams’ upcoming sale Lady Glenconner, My Life in Objects on 18 November at Bonhams New Bond Street, London. 

Charlie Thomas, Head of Private and Iconic Collections at Bonhams: commented: “Royalty, glamour, and a roller-coaster marriage, Lady Glenconner has led an extraordinary life. Through her many books, across both fiction and nonfiction, she has become widely known for her incredible wit and exceptional strength. We are delighted to be able to offer highlights from her collection at Bonhams and help tell her Life in Objects.”

Lady Glenconner commented: “I have had such great pleasure living with these wonderful objects, each telling their own fascinating story and I am delighted that they will soon be going on to new homes and their stories will enter a new chapter.’’

Left: Lady Glenconner. Right: Cecil Beaton (British, 1904-1980), The Queen with her Maids of Honour. Estimate: £700 - 1,000.

Highlights of the collection include:

• Thomas Smith of Derby (British, 1715-1767), The Cullen Arabian held by a groom, before a landscape with classical ruins. Estimate: £50,000 - 70,000.

A 9 carat gold Cartier box gifted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Jacques Cartier, London, 1954, engraved 'Cartier London', incuse stamped 'W' (2), Estimates_4,000 - 6,000

• A 9 carat gold Cartier box gifted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Jacques Cartier, London, 1954, engraved 'Cartier London', incuse stamped 'W' (2). Estimate: £4,000 - 6,000.

• Victor Pasmore R.A. (British, 1908-1998) The Painting Lesson 50.8 x 61 cm. (20 x 24 in.) (Painted in 1939). Estimate: £30,000 - 50,000.

• Sir Norman Hartnell (British, 1901-1979), Lady Glenconner's wedding dress together with a photographic print of Lady Glenconner taken by Anthony Armstrong-Jones. Estimate: £1,000-1,500.

• Cecil Beaton (British, 1904-1980), The Queen with her Maids of Honour. Estimate: £700 - 1,000.

Lady Glenconner’s new book, Manners & Mischief, An A-Z of a Life Lived Well is published by Bedford Square Publishers on 6th November, price £18.99 hardback.

Lady Glenconner was born Lady Anne Coke in 1932, the eldest daughter of the 5th Earl of Leicester, and grew up in their ancestral estate at Holkham Hall in Norfolk. A Maid of Honour at the Queen's Coronation, she married Lord Glenconner in 1956. They had 5 children together of whom 3 survive. In 1958 she and her husband began to transform the island of Mustique into a paradise for the rich and famous. They gifted a plot of land to Princess Margaret who built her favourite home there. She was appointed Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret in 1973 and kept this role – accompanying her on many state occasions and foreign tours – until her death in 2002. Lord Glenconner died in 2010, leaving everything in his will to his former employee. She now lives in a farmhouse near Kings Lynn in Norfolk.

Lady Glenconner's memoir, Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown, was published in 2019 and was an immediate international bestseller. Her first novel Murder on Mustique was published in 2020.

Lady Glenconner was also inspiration behind the character of Lady Mary in the series Downton Abbey. Downton Abbey: The Auction runs until 16 September on bonhams.com.

About The Bonhams Network

Bonhams is a global network of auction houses, with the largest number of international salerooms, offering the widest range of collecting categories and selling at all price points. Bonhams is recognised for its bespoke service, and a dedication to local market relationships, enhanced by a global platform. With 14 salerooms, Bonhams presents over 1,000 sales annually, across more than 60 specialist categories, including fine art, collectables, luxury, wine & spirits, and collector cars.

Founded in 1793, Bonhams has representatives in more than 30 countries and operates flagship salerooms in London, New York, Paris, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong. In 2022, Bonhams added four international auction houses to its network: Bukowskis, Stockholm; Bruun Rasmussen, Copenhagen; Cornette de Saint Cyr, Paris and Brussels; and Skinner, Massachusetts. The success of Bonhams’ global strategy is a result of recognising the shift in growing intercontinental buying and increased digital engagement.

In 2023, Bonhams achieved 14% growth with $1.14 billion in turnover. Recent important auctions and landmark single-owner collections, include the white glove sales of Sir Michael Caine: The Personal Collection, Alain Delon: Sixty Years of Passion; Sir Roger Moore: The Personal Collection; Personal Property of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and The Robert & Jean-Pierre Rousset Collection of Asian Art: A Century of Collecting. Other notable single-owner sales included The Estate of Barbara Walters: American Icon; The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection; The Crown Auction: Props and Costumes and The Claude de Marteau Collection.

Top lots for 2023 include 1967 Ferrari 412P Berlinetta, Sold at Quail Lodge, US for US$30,255,000. Tipu Sultan’s Bedchamber Sword (sold in London for £14m – a world record for both an Islamic and an Indian object); Paul Signac (1863-1935), Sisteron, 1902. Sold for US$8,580,000 (estimate US$4-6 million), and Claude Monet (1840-1926), La Seine près de Giverny, 1888. Sold for US$6,352,500 (estimate US$4-6m), both from the Alan and Simone Hartman Collection; A Gilt Copper Alloy figure of Virupaksha, Central Tibet, Densatil Monastery, Early 15th century. Sold for HK$37.9m (£4,060,326) in Hong Kong. Yoshitomo Nara (born 1959) Three Stars. Sold for HK$36,754,000 (£3,930,914), also in Hong Kong. 

For more information about these auctions and others featured By Bonhams, please visit their site. Bonhams can also be found on Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube, and Pinterest.