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PROPERTY FROM DESCENDANTS OF BRIGADIER ARTHUR VALERIAN WELLESLEY, 8TH DUKE OF WELLINGTON, KG, (1915-2014) AND DIANA RUTH, NEE MCCONNEL, DUCHESS OF WELLINGTON, (1922-2010), REMOVED FROM PARK CORNERLOTS 410-451The pictures, furniture, porcelain and works of art that are offered below came from the personal collections of Brigadier Arthur Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington, KG, (1915- 2014) and Diana Ruth, nee McConnel, Duchess of Wellington, (1922-2010) and were removed from Park Corner, their much loved home on the Stratfield Saye Estate. Among the things offered here that probably were inherited from his father, Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington, KG (1915-1972), the noted diplomat and architect and his mother, the poet and free spirit, Dorothy Wellesley, nee Dorothy Violet Ashton, are the Italian tabernacle and the Italian walnut and lapis lazuli table cabinet (lots 446 & 448) collected during their stay in Rome, where the future 8th Duke was born. It is most likely that the Russian paintings after Orlowsky (lot 441) were acquired just before the First World War, during a diplomatic posting to St Petersburg. He was a friend of Prince Felix Yusopov and his wife Princess Irina Alexandrovna, only niece of the last Tsar. Among the great houses that Lord Gerald Wellesley remodelled were Castle Hill, Hinton Ampner, Biddick Hall and Cottesbrooke. In 1931 he was commissioned to adapt the house in Mayfair acquired by Italy from the 2nd Duke of Westminster as the new Embassy of that country. Lord Gerald was Surveyor of The King’s Works of Art between 1936 and 1943. In 1944 the Marquess and Marchioness of Douro, (Valerian Wellesley became the Marquess when his father inherited the Dukedom from his nephew who was killed at Salerno in 1943) were married in Jerusalem, and Park Corner was their home until they moved into Stratfield Saye, following the death of the 7th Duke in 1972. After the Second World War the Marquess of Douro continued his distinguished military career in the Royal Horse Guards, ‘ The Blues ‘. He served in Cyprus in the 1950’s and appropriately, as military attaché, in Madrid from 1964 until he retired in 1967 and moved back to England to run the family estates. During their tours abroad, Park Corner with it’s beautiful views over the Park at Stratfield Saye, was their home and indeed their oasis in England, where they brought up their five children. In 2001 the Duke handed Stratfield Saye over to Lord Douro, his eldest son and present Duke of Wellington, and he and the late Duchess moved back to the happy home, where they had started their married life so many years before. Poignantly the 8th Duke died on the 31st of December a few months before the Bicentennial commemorations of the Battle of Waterloo on 18th June 2015 and his 100th birthday on 2nd July. Some of the lots in this sale, (lots 411, 414-415) reflect the Duke’s interest in his great heritage and noble ancestor, such as the fine set of prints of Hougoumont, an engagement crucial to the success of Waterloo, the bronze equestrian statue of the Iron Duke by Kenneth Potts, the silk picture depicting named episodes from his life and the watch (lots 411 & 417) and offer a unique opportunity to acquire Wellington Memorabilia in such an auspicious year.
AN ENGLISH BRONZE EQUESTRIAN GROUP OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON
CAST FROM THE MODEL BY KENNETH POTTS, 1997, EDITION 4/9
細節
AN ENGLISH BRONZE EQUESTRIAN GROUP OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON
CAST FROM THE MODEL BY KENNETH POTTS, 1997, EDITION 4/9
On a circular walnut plinth, signed and dated 'Kenneth Potts 1997'
22 ½ in. (56.5 cm.) high
CAST FROM THE MODEL BY KENNETH POTTS, 1997, EDITION 4/9
On a circular walnut plinth, signed and dated 'Kenneth Potts 1997'
22 ½ in. (56.5 cm.) high