This sale marked the conclusion of our year-long collaboration, A Calendar of Colour, with de Gournay - the family company renowned for creating the world’s finest hand-painted wallpapers and hand-embroidered fabrics. Throughout the project, seasonal selections of de Gournay’s Chinoiserie panels were offered as part of our Fine Furniture and Works of Art auctions and featured as backdrops in our catalogues, bringing the collections vividly to life. For this final auction, we were also delighted to have Sophie Conran help curate the interior imagery for the catalogue, as well as select her favourite pieces from the auction.

The auction concluded in splendid fashion with Lot 657, a bronze figure of a mermaid by David Williams-Ellis, which sold for £38,000. Head of British and European Sculpture and Works of Art, Silas Currie Leigh-Wood, remarked, “I believe this to be a world-record price for one of Williams-Ellis’s works at auction. It attracted numerous enquiries from both the UK and America, predominantly from private collectors. Its innate attractiveness and charm were evident both in the catalogue and when displayed in the gardens at Donnington Priory. I was delighted by the result.”

Here, we take a look at some of the highlights.

Auction Highlights

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Consign to a future auction

Thinking of selling? For a free auction valuation, please contact our specialists on: +44 (0) 1635 553 553 | furniture@dreweatts.com. Alternatively, you can also complete our online valuation form, here.