FOREWORD
Sir Philip Shelbourne was the only child of Leslie Shelbourne, a director of the Runciman shipping line. His mother having died in childbirth, he was brought up by two maiden aunts to whom he remained devoted until they died in recent years. He was an intensely private man, but those to whom he gave his friendship enjoyed for life his generosity and exceptional loyalty. He was a great perfectionist and would always endeavour to ensure that every detail was correct. This extended both to his professional life and to the refurbishment of his houses.
Sir Philip was the outstanding tax counsel of the fifties before joining Rothschilds in 1962 and setting up their Corporate Finance Department. He then moved to the chair of the Drayton Group, then Samuel Montagu, before being appointed by Margaret Thatcher to head BNOC with the ultimate object of privatisation. Having become the chairman of Britoil after the government decided to split BNOC, he then had a difficult period which culminated in Britoil falling to BP. He subsequently became non-executive chairman of the merchant bankers, Henry Ansbacher and was appointed deputy chairman of the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers. He was knighted in 1984 and became an honorary bencher of the Inner Temple in the same year.
From an early age he had determined that discomfort should play no part in his life. He recounted to friends how, during his service in the army, when spending a night in the open, he rolled over into a puddle and vowed to himself never again to be unnecessarily uncomfortable. His tastes were for grandeur and opulence in architecture and music. He admired the baroque and rococo, and the flamboyance of the Austrian masters such as Fischer von Erlach and Jakob Prandtauer. But this is balanced by the severity of the Empire and Biedermeier to which he devoted two rooms at Myles Place.
Myles Place was the culmination of his passion for acquiring beautiful houses and filling them with carefully selected pictures, furniture and objects. The first of these was Theberton House near Saxmundham from which he moved in 1978, transferring the contents to Aubert Park in Highbury, which he had already acquired. Myles Place came on the market following Sir Arthur Bryant's death in 1988, Sir Philip attended the house sale and instantly fell in love with it. The house was in need of extensive renovation, but this was to prove a further inspiration to his discerning eye and taste for grandeur. Having lavished such care and affection on the house, he was, alas, to be allowed too short a time to enjoy it.
Perhaps the epilogue to this discreet and private man is his generosity in leaving the main part of his Estate to two charities he had supported for many years, namely the Georgian Group and the Brooke Hospital for Animals. It is not surprising that his love of 18th Century architecture and furniture led him to the Georgian Group as he was a firm believer in their campaigns to conserve the Georgian heritage. The group have selected some items from the house which they will display as a memorial to his munificence. Less obvious perhaps, but certainly as committed, was his deep interest in the Brooke Hospital for Animals. As a great animal lover, he abhorred any animal suffering and therefore the practical work of the Hospital in the field of veterinary welfare of working equine animals in Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and India was a natural choice for him to support. This legacy will go towards the costs involved in treating over 100,000 cases per year.
Christie's are grateful to the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury Cathedral for their help and co-operation in enabling the sale to be held at Myles Place.
A PAIR OF GILTWOOD TWO-BRANCH WALL LIGHTS of Louis XVI style, each with pierced trellis-work backplate with twin acanthus-carved scrolling branches surmounted by a gadrooned urn-finial with wheatsheafs and rosettes, above a pair of scrolled branches with turned drip-pans and nozzles on an acanthus carved boss, now fitted for electricity and with pleated shades, previously decorated
Details
A PAIR OF GILTWOOD TWO-BRANCH WALL LIGHTS of Louis XVI style, each with pierced trellis-work backplate with twin acanthus-carved scrolling branches surmounted by a gadrooned urn-finial with wheatsheafs and rosettes, above a pair of scrolled branches with turned drip-pans and nozzles on an acanthus carved boss, now fitted for electricity and with pleated shades, previously decorated
30in. (76.5cm.) high. (2)
30in. (76.5cm.) high. (2)