Marquess auctions $50m heirlooms to keep stately home

By LOUISE JURY in London

The seventh Marquess of Bath said yesterday he will sell £15 million ($50.6 million) of family heirlooms in an attempt to secure the future of his family seat, Longleat House, in Wiltshire.

Lord Bath and his trustees have instructed Christie's to auction paintings, furniture, books and manuscripts to set up a maintenance fund to help preserve the 16th century house,, a superb example of Elizabethan architecture.

It has been home to Lord Bath's family, the Thynnes, for more than 450 years and was the first country house to be opened to the public on a commercial basis, in 1949.

The family also created the first safari park outside Africa in the grounds and have made it a popular tourism destination that draws 400,000 visitors a year.

Lord Bath said the decision to sell had been difficult but the financial impact of events such as the foot and mouth crisis and the terrorist attacks of September 11 had made clear the need to take a long-term approach to looking after the estate.

Items being sold were were not part of the core historic collection.

The Marquess' business acumen may be sometimes hidden by his eccentric appearance and notorious fondness for his "wifelets", but yesterday he demonstrated a keen awareness of commercial imperatives, saying: "Longleat must look to the future, especially with ever-increasing competition from the changing world of the leisure industry".

Many of the items being sold came to Longleat during the Second World War from a separate branch of the family, the Botfields.

The pictures and books of Beriah Botfield, a Victorian bibliophile and antiquarian, are regarded as remarkable.

But they do not have the long-standing association with the house of the works accumulated by the Thynne family, most notably by the fourth Marquess in the 19th century.

These were the key to preserving the "unique character" of Longleat, Lord Bath said.



The auction will include treasures such as four 18th century life-size models of birds by Johann Kandler. They are estimated at up to £600,000 apiece and are regarded as some of the most important porcelain sculptures created.

Among the books will be the first printed in the English language, by William Caxton at Bruges, before he introduced the printing press to England.

Its value is estimated at up to £400,000.

A complete copy of Rationale by Durandus, printed on vellum in 1459, will be the second-oldest printed book sold by Christie's, after the Gutenberg Bible.



Lord Bath said he had enjoyed the privilege of living at Longleat for the best part of his life and sharing it with visitors. But it would be possible to continue only if the family had enough resources to maintain and conserve the estate.

He is adamant that he does not want the Longleat collection damaged. His instructions to the auctioneers were: "I don't want anyone to notice that you've been there after you've finished."

Lord Hindlip, Christie's chairman, said: "It is an honour ... to have been entrusted with a sale that will make such a major contribution to the long-term preservation of one of England's treasure houses."

Longleat House was built in 1568. Improvements were later made by Sir Christopher Wren, who was born 12km away.

The original gardens were remodelled by the great Victorian landscape gardener Lancelot "Capability" Brown. Mazes and a lake where hippopotamuses swim have since been added.

- INDEPENDENT