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Woodbury House, an elegant Regency gothic villa in Hampshire, was the last home of the Hon. Mr and Mrs Anthony Samuel. Anthony Samuel (1917-2001) was the younger son of Colonel Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted (1882-1948), and was a grandson of Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted (1853-1927), the founder of The “Shell” Transport and Trading Company, which in 1907 merged with its rival to form Royal Dutch Shell. Anthony Samuel served in the SOE during the Second World War. After the War he joined the family Bank Hill Samuel, and had other interests in publishing, representing prominent authors such as P.G. Wodehouse. He also ventured into the world of horse racing owning several winners. In 1966 he married his third wife, the actress Mercy Haystead. Mercy, had risen to fame as a model and actress after being 'discovered' whilst holidaying in Positano in 1949. She was well known in the 1950s for her roles in What the Butler Saw and The Admirable Crichton.
The Samuels were renowned as generous hosts. They had houses in London and Scotland as well as frequently travelling to their suite in the Algonquin Hotel, New York. Their house on St. Leonard’s Terrace, Chelsea, with rich interiors designed by David Hicks, was their sophisticated London base. Hicks' green velvet drawing room provided a backdrop for George III giltwood seat furniture and a collection of pre-Columbian gold artefacts displayed in a pyramidal perspex case, whilst their country home provided a more restrained setting, acting as a retreat from London and as a base from which country sports could be pursued and enjoyed.
Arndilly House, on the banks of the Spey, was famed amongst their friends not only as a place for superb entertaining but also for good sport and from February to October salmon fishing would have been the order of the day. In later years, when a quieter life was sought, Arndilly was sold and a house was required that was both closer to London and still offered the serenity and escape which had been so enjoyed on the Spey. Woodbury House, a former rectory in Hampshire, perfectly fitted the bill. The house, at the heart of the village and adjacent to the charmng church, yet secluded in its own very private, leafy grounds became their new country retreat.
Here a softer, more genteel decorative scheme was required, one which not only suited the house's rural location, but also its architecture. It was decorated by Simon Playle under the keen eye of the ever stylish Mrs Samuel. Block colours were adopted for the principal reception rooms, green for the library, yellow for the drawing room and red for the dining room, whilst a soft grey wallpaper, with printed 'Regency' gothic pattern, echoing the lancet form of the windows, was chosen for the central hall.
The Samuels had long been keen collectors and their possessions had been inherited, collected and assembled over many decades and displayed all the characteristics of a discerning collector's eye. The collection of paintings included works by artists ranging from Edouard Vuillard to those of the Victorian painter Atkinson Grimshaw and the 20th-century artist Nicolas de Staël. Following the death of Anthony Samuel in 2001 their London house was sold. The de Staëls and selected works of art, which could not be accommodated at Woodbury House, were sold at Christie's and the collection from Woodbury House is now offered here following the death of Mercy Samuel earlier this year.
A CHINESE WUCAI BALUSTER JAR
17TH CENTURY
Details
A CHINESE WUCAI BALUSTER JAR
17TH CENTURY
Decorated with three cranes amongst cloud scrolls, below two ruyi-head lappet bands
10 ½ in. (27.2 cm.) high, with wood stand and rim cover
17TH CENTURY
Decorated with three cranes amongst cloud scrolls, below two ruyi-head lappet bands
10 ½ in. (27.2 cm.) high, with wood stand and rim cover
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