This January, Dreweatts auction house will present the remarkable collection of Baroness Rawlings, Conservative Peer and former Member of the European Parliament. Offered as part of Dreweatts’ Town and Country: Baroness Rawlings, Eaton Square and Adlington Hall, Cheshire sale on 22nd January 2025, the collection comprises art, furniture, and treasures from across the globe.
Born in January 1939, Patricia Elizabeth Rawlings initially trained as a nurse at Westminster Hospital and was an active member of the British Red Cross. As a debutante, Patricia was acknowledged as one of the most beautiful of her season, gracing London’s high society with her wit and charm. Photographed by the famed Cecil Beaton and painted by inimitable artists such as Pietro Annigoni, she was a leading light of the post-war generation. Patricia was elected as Member of the European Parliament in 1989 and was created a Life Peer in 1994. On entering the House of Lords she held several frontbench positions, notably serving as an Opposition Whip (1997-1998), and thereafter a Spokesperson on Culture, Media and Sport (1997-1998), Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1998-2010), International Development (1998-2010) and Government Whip (2010-2012).
Cosmopolitan
Housed until now in Patricia’s vast Eaton Square flat, the collection reflects the cosmopolitan taste of a discerning collector whose perceptive mind holds enduring appeal to British art. Having once been President of the British Antique Dealers’ Association, Baroness Rawlings acquired the collection with a keen eye and insatiable appetite for pieces of art-historical gravitas and beauty. As noted by the aesthete Nicky Haslam in his foreword to the collection’s catalogue ‘wherever her possessions enhance their new surroundings, they will always retain the allure, evoke the renown- the unique Patricia-ness-of their assembler’.
Baroness Rawlings remarked: “The collection represents my lifelong love and joy of collecting works of interest and quality. I am sad to part with so many friends but hope anyone who buys them will cherish and enjoy the pieces as I have done.”
Joe Robinson, Head of the House Sales and Private Collections Department at Dreweatts, commented: “Lady Rawlings has curated a collection that is diverse and varied, but also incredibly synergistic. Hailing from different continents and eras, the constituent pieces bear testament to the manner in which artistic styles and techniques have evolved across the globe through cross-cultural exchange. We at Dreweatts are delighted to be delivering the works in the collection to their next destination”.
Among the highlights of the sale are:
- Several watercolours by Marie Laurencin, the renowned French painter and printmaker who made a name for herself amongst the Parisian avant-garde of the 1920s. Associating herself with the likes of Pablo Picasso, Jean Metzinger, Robert Delaunay, and Guillaume Apollinaire, Laurencin developed her own unique style that is evident in the pieces acquired by Patricia, with their sensitive depiction of female sitters in a palette of pale yellows, blues, and pinks. These watercolours come to the market in the wake of the acclaimed exhibition Marie Laurencin: Sapphic Paris at the Barnes Foundation.
- A statement bronze by British sculptor Lynn Chadwick, titled Magnette for the Trigons, 1961. Abstract in form, and striking in its composition, the piece is emblematic of Chadwick’s style in the years after his attainment of the International Sculpture Prize, which earnt him esteem comparable to Alberto Giacometti, César Badaccini, and the other great sculptors of the twentieth century.
- A large Chinese ‘Kesi’ silk immortals panel, skilfully woven with a celestial scene depicting the Peach Festival, at which the ancient goddess Xiwangmu, Queen Mother of the West and the guardian to Taoist women, bestowed upon her followers good fortune. Purchased from Edward T Chow in 1962 in Hong Kong.
- Marc Chagall’s Exodus, a book comprising twenty-four lithographs, and a selection of oil paintings by Vũ Cao Đàm, a Vietnamese artist who took great inspiration from Chagall; on emigrating from Hanoi to France he was profoundly influenced by the École de Paris, and in 1949 moved to the Côte d’Azur, settling just down the road from Matisse’s Chapel in Vence, and only a mile away from where Chagall himself was living in Les Collines.
- English sculptor and performance artist Andrew Logan’s Thot to Toe. An architect by training and part of the school of English Eccentrics by choice, Logan is known for crossing cultures and embodying artistic fantasy. The subject of major exhibitions from Los Angeles to St Petersburg, the artist’s enduring appeal is demonstrated by his recent collaboration with Selfridges on the store’s Christmas windows and displays.
- A carved giltwood console table in continental 18th century style, with corners depicting projecting cherubs on ornate cabriole legs. Typical of pieces from this highly sought after era, which marked a peak in artistic innovation. One of several pieces of fine furniture from the period to feature in the collection. Bought in 1962 from Lady Ward from her house in Belgrave Square.
Photo Credits:
Interior photography © James MacDonald
Adlington Hall
Adlington Hall was initially constructed between 1480 and 1505 – at the dawn of the Tudor dynasty – though the building and its collection have constantly evolved with the times. Its history has been witnessed and enjoyed by the Legh family, who inherited the estate in the early 14th century: under the supervision of Colonel Thomas Legh, Adlington became a refuge for the Royalists during the English Civil War; its rooms and treasures within were thereafter built upon by Charles Legh, whose “tastes for music, poetry, paintings, and architecture” were noted by English antiquary and historian George Ormerod. The resultant collection bears testament to the grandeur of Adlington Hall and the surrounding countryside – its mahogany furnishings, gilt timepieces, and family-tree of portraits bespeak the typical yet erudite tastes of its one-time residents and the evolving fashions of aristocratic families. Many of the portraits came to Adlington by descent, through the marriage of Lady Isabella Robartes to John Legh, from the Earls of Radnor at Llanhydrock in Cornwall.
Perhaps one of the most documented works is a rare series of estate portraits by Thomas Bardwell, commissioned by Charles Legh to celebrate his remodelling of the house in 1757. They are featured in John Harris’ seminal publication ‘The Artist and the Country House’. They are part of a long tradition of country house portraiture in Britain and demonstrate Bardwell’s skill as a perspectivist in the cartographic tradition.
Other artists represented in the collection include: John Souch, who was active in the early seventeenth century; Thomas Hudson, tutor to Joshua Reynolds and Joseph Wright, and a portraitist in his own right who painted George Frideric Handel, who once played the organ and drafted a composition at Adlington; Petrus Johannes van Reysschoot, a prominent Flemish painter who spent a large part of his career in the English Midlands; John Opie, a member of the Strawberry Hill Set whose contemporaries included Henry Fuseli, Samuel Johnson, and Mary Wollstonecraft; and Wilfrid de Glehn, an Impressionist who was elected to the Royal Academy in 1932.
Joe Robinson, Head of the House Sales and Private Collections Department at Dreweatts, commented: “Adlington Hall is a treasure trove of English history and patronage, its rooms having been adorned for centuries by artworks from the very best artists and artisans of their day. We at Dreweatts are proud to be handling the historically significant collection of this most beloved country house”.
Among the highlights in the sale are:
- A large-scale portrait attributed to Mary Beale, one of the great portraitists of the seventeenth century, after Sir Peter Lely; the subject is Letitia Isabella Smith, Countess of Radnor, was described as “a great beaty indeed” by Samuel Pepys and was also the subject of a celebrated story in the memoirs of Count Grammont. Other standout pictures include a portrait of Thomas Legh by the English painter Thomas Hudson, and a portrait of Sir Urian Legh, who was knighted by Robert Devereux in 1596 for his honour at Cadiz and is thought to be the ‘English man’ wooed in the famous ballad The Spanish Lady’s Love
- An Austin ‘Junior 40’ child’s pedal car, reflective of Adlington’s more recent history as a family home. The car was produced between 1949 and 1971 at a dedicated factory in Bargoed, South Wales, with a workforce mostly comprising of ex-coal miners disabled by pneumoconiosis. With coachwork finished in bright red, the pedal car is one of just 32,098 examples made at the factory. In recent years the appeal of the Austin J40 has swelled with the ‘Settrington Cup’ held annually at the Goodwood Revival.
- A Charles II silvered and carved wood cabinet stand, with a leaf-carved edge and elaborate frieze depicting flowers and putti amongst other foliage. Mounted with outset caryatid supports on each leg, the piece dates from around 1670.
- A double portrait of Thomas Legh the Elder with his wife Ann Gobarte, accompanied by a spaniel; painted by John Souch of Chester, its subjects had traditionally been identified as Thomas Legh the Younger and his wife Mary.
- An unusual pair of Tibetan-style Chinese aubergine glazed ewers, the front and spout of which are mounted with wooden European handles.
- A portrait of Sarah Bodvile, the Honourable Mrs Robert Robartes, later Viscountess Bodmin and Countess of Radnor, attributed to Sir Peter Lely and studio; set within a Kentian frame surmounted by an earl’s coronet, the picture was likely commissioned by the sitter for Llanhydrock, and later inherited by Lady Isabella Legh.
- A number of large-scale pictures depicting the Adlington estate by the eighteenth-century painter Thomas Bardwell, including a rare set of views.
Photo Credits: © Dreweatts
About Dreweatts
Dreweatts auction house was established in 1759 and is one of the foremost auction houses in the UK. It comprises 22 specialist departments ranging from Fine Art (Old Master Paintings, British & European Pictures, Modern & Contemporary art), Jewellery and Watches, Silver, Wine, Books and Manuscripts, British & European Ceramics & Glass, Modern Design & Decorative Art, Ephemera, Furniture, House Sales & Collections, Clocks, Barometers and Scientific Instruments, Asian Ceramics and Works of Art. It holds regular specialist sales from a highly qualified expert team, totalling more than 70 sales per year including curated Interiors sales, single owner collections and house sales.
Dreweatts is a member of the Gurr Johns group of international art advisory businesses. Its’ main saleroom is Donnington Priory in Newbury, Berkshire. It has a London showroom on Pall Mall, St James’s and caters to a global clientele.
As well as auctions, the company offers valuation services for private individuals, lawyers, executors, family offices and fiduciary agents to provide the necessary advice to assist with probate and estate management and market valuations, for possible sale. Dreweatts valuation services include free online auction valuations, virtual valuations, home visits and valuation days at our salerooms, where clients can receive advice on buying and selling from Dreweatts market-leading specialists.
Website: www.dreweatts.com
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