An interior designer, art collector and arbiter of style, Manfredi was born to the noble Italian Della Gherardesca family, and raised surrounded by the beauty of the museums and galleries of Florence. This built within him a robust awareness of his own taste and the importance of the decorative arts as the foundation for Western culture. Later, his mind would be captured by the draw of the contemporary, and the way it challenged entrenched tastes and set ideals. It was the act of balancing these two important and enriching themes which would consume the rest of his professional life. The thrill of placing two seemingly incongruous objects side by side without diminishing the importance of either, but instead creating a wonderland where onlookers could learn and see something ‘different’, was something of a compulsion.

The culmination of over 3 years of planning, the sale explores Manfredi’s many diversions, spanning Modern and Contemporary art, design and photography, to Old Master paintings, English and European furniture and sculpture, as well as the many exceptional decorative objects he used like alchemy to balance and curate his eclectic harmony. All point towards the pop-like multicultural sensibility of this much missed tastemaker and his discerning eye to create distinct yet personal environments.

Joe Robinson, Head of House Sales and Private Collections said “Manfredi possessed the rare quality of having excellent taste, extensive knowledge and an extraordinary vision. His profound passion made him a uniquely sophisticated and eclectic collector with a cultural depth representative of his keen appreciation for beauty, in all its forms. Dreweatts are proud to have worked with Manfredi in the early stages of development for his sale and to have been entrusted with his collection, which is emblematic and a celebration of his sublime, witty, and entirely original style.”

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Auction Details

Wednesday 24 April, 10.30am BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

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VIEWING:

• Viewing in London (highlights):
  • Tuesday 19 March: 10am-4pm
  • Wednesday 20 March: 10am-4pm
  • Thursday 21 March: 10am-4pm
  • Friday 22 March: 10am-4pm
  • Monday 25 March: 10am-4pm
  • Tuesday 26 March: 10am-4pm
  • Wednesday 27 March: 10am-4pm
• Viewing in Newbury (full sale):
  • Saturday 20 April: 10am-3pm
  • Sunday 21 April: 10am-3pm
  • Monday 22 April: 10am-4pm
  • Tuesday 23 April: 10am-4pm
  • Wednesday 24 April: 10am-4pm
• Dreweatts 360 Virtual Auction Tour | Available from Saturday 20 April

VIDEO IMAGERY & ARCHIVE

All imagery included in this film is subject to © Dreweatts 1759, © MDG Family Archive and © MDG Fine Arts Ltd., and those © clearances as indicated on screen, and below. © Elena Mannocci © Ben Brown Fine Arts © Isabella Soulard © James McDonald © Constantino Ruspoli © Roger Wooldridge © James Yates Brown © Etienne Hunyady © Paolo Salvadori © Wayne Maser