Lot 79
79
Goldenhurst Farm
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more The proceeds from the sale of the following lot are to be divided equally between MacMillan Cancer Relief, MIND and The Noël Coward Foundation
Goldenhurst Farm

Details
Goldenhurst Farm
A baby grand piano by John Broadwood & Sons, mahogany case, frame number 55125 (1927), eight and a half octaves, 56in. (142.2cm.) long, with printed storage sticker to underside (CA)SHMAN & Co. Ltd Depositary Dover Keep Forward Name: Noel Coward Esq.[ink faded or in pencil] Date: [indistinct]; and a Victorian adjustable piano stool, with a circular padded seat on a turned bulbous support with cabriole legs and scrolled feet (2)
Literature
LESLEY, Cole The Life Of Noël Coward, London: Jonathan Cape, 1976, p. 163 (illus.)
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis. REMOVALS Lots not cleared by 12.00 noon on the Monday following the sale will be removed to the warehouse of: Cadogan Tate Ltd., Fine Art Services, Cadogan House, 2 Relay Road, London, W12 7SJ. Telephone: 44(0)20 8735 3700. Facsimile: 44(0)20 8735 3701. Lots will be available for collection following transfer to Cadogan Tate on the Friday following the sale and every week-day from 9.00am to 1.00pm and 2.00pm to 5.00pm. An initial transfer and administration charge of £18.50 and a storage charge of £3.20 per lot per day will be payable to Cadogan Tate and subject to VAT and an insurance surcharge.
Further details
See illustration p. 15

Lot Essay

Sir Noël purchased this piano for Goldenhurst in 1927 where it remained until the house was sold in 1956. It then went into storage in Dover until 1961 when it was removed to the London home of Graham Payn. On seeing the piano in its new home, Sir Noël referred to it as "the walled-up nun", as he thought it would never be able to be moved again.
The pre-war years were a period when Noël Coward produced some of his finest work, and this piano would probably have been used for composing many of his best-loved songs and musicals from this time such as Mad Dogs And Englishmen, Bitter Sweet and I'll Follow My Secret Heart from Conversation Piece

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