LATE 18TH CENTURY, ORIGINALLY WITH FURTHER BASES

These greyhound-form presse-papiers once formed part of the collection of Lady Baillie, the celebrated Anglo-American collector and society figure. The Hon. Mrs. Filmer, as Lady Baillie then was, in 1926 acquired Leeds Castle, a historic and romantic seat with Royal connections dating back to Saxon times and famously described by the historian Lord Conway as 'the loveliest castle...in the whole world'. Lady Baillie immediately breathed new life into the castle, embarking on extensive refurbishments carried out under the guidance of the legendary French designers Armand-Albert Rateau and Stiphane Boudin of the house of Jansen, creating a celebrated series of revitalized interiors. In the 1930's Leeds Castle was one of the great society houses of England, with royalty such as Queen Marie of Romania, Alfonso XIII of Spain and members of the British Royal family being frequent visitors, while equally figures from the glamorous world of entertainment such as Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn and James Stewart were often entertained there in lavish parties. Follwing her death in 1974, ownership of Leeds Castle passed to the Leeds Castle Foundation, allowing it to be left to the nation in perpetuity.