The Davies-Cooke Collection from Gwysaney Hall

Beginning on 29 May, our Art and Interiors sale includes selected items of furniture, works of art, arms and armour, such as the Cromwellian pieces reflecting the family’s longstanding political interests.

This is followed on 11 June by the historic group of portraits and other paintings in our auction of Old Masters, British and European Art. These works act as a family tree of the Davies-Cooke family over four hundred years.

Our Fine Jewellery sale (12 June) and Fine Silver sale (14 October) will include a collection of fob seals and items of silver linked to the family members and bearing the Cooke family crest.

The full list of auctions featuring pieces from Gwysaney Hall are:

• 29 May: Art & Interiors
• 11 June: Old Master, British and European Art
• 12 June: Fine Jewellery
• 24 & 25 June: Fine Furniture, Sculpture, Carpets, Ceramics and Works of Art 
• 6 August: Silver, Watches and Luxury Accessories  
• 9 September: Fine Clocks, Barometers and Scientific Instruments
• 14 October: Fine Silver

A Personal History and National Legacy

The land upon which stands the understated Jacobean elegance of Gwysaney Hall, between Mold and Northop in North Wales, has been in the Davies family’s custodianship since at least the early thirteenth century. The construction of the hall is thought to have been initiated by Robert Davies (1555-1602), a descendant of Edward III, and its development under his heir Robert Davies II (1581-1633).

Civil War

Lot 4 in our auction of Old Master, British and European Art (11 June) is a portrait by the circle of Daniel Mytens the Elder of Robert II’s younger brother who was gentleman-in-attendance to Henry, Prince of Wales. He would later join Robert Devereux, 3^rd Earl of Essex in the Low Countries in 1624 where he led a regiment against the Spanish forces. He also led Royalist forces during the Civil War and fought his final battle at Denbigh Castle before his death in 1655.

Lot 1063 of our Art & Interiors sale (29 May) is a Cromwellian steel ‘lobster-tailed pot’ helmet from the mid-17th century, a testament to the family’s involvement in that tumultuous war.

It was also during the Civil War that Gwysaney Hall was besieged by Parliamentarian forces, and Robert Davies III, who served as a Royalist captain, was twice imprisoned, but reappointed High Sheriff of Flintshire following the Restoration.

Gwysaney Hall in Decline

Upon the death of Robert III’s widow Anne in 1690, the family’s focus shifted away from Gwysaney to their other properties. Their son Mutton Davies (1634-84), who inherited the family’s Llannerch estate, developed elaborate formal gardens there, inspired by the gardens he saw on his travels through France, the Low Countries, and Italy.

Robert Davies IV, an antiquarian and bibliophile, is credited with the preservation of many early Welsh texts, including the Book of Llandaff, an important twelfth century manuscript, now housed in the National Library of Wales, and his son Robert IV, a Jacobite sympathiser, belonged to the pro-Stuart group in north-east Wales known as the Cycle of the White Rose.

Captain John Davies by Thomas Hudson

Lot 47 of our 11 June sale is a fine portrait of Captain John Davies (1701-79), second son of Robert V, who fought under King George II at Dettingen during the War of the Austrian Succession. The artist Thomas Hudson was a pupil of his father-in-law Jonathan Richardson, and his formality in the portrayal of his sitters was appreciated by traditionalists. Hudson’s popularity grew after his return from Europe in 1752, and by mid-decade had become one of the most fashionable portrait painters in London, rivalled only by Allan Ramsay.

A Classic Country House

After the death of John (1737-85), the last male heir of the Davies line, both properties were inherited by his sisters Letitia and Mary, the latter receiving Gwysaney after a decision made with a game of dice. Her daughter Frances married Bryan Cooke, and their son Philip Davies Cooke took upon its restauration, after more than a century of neglect. His heir re-established Gwysaney as the family seat in 1888 and his son maintained it during the twilight of the great country house era. The estate passed through successive generations until Richard Davies-Cooke inherited it upon his father’s death in 2004.

More Highlights from The Davies-Cooke Collection

Another highlight in our June 11 sale is lot 66: A Portrait of Mrs. Kathleen Mabel Davies-Cooke, Wife of P.R. Davies-Cooke, In a White Dress, Black Hat and Gloves by Gerald Festus Kelly (1879-1971), wife of Philip Ralph Davies-Cooke. Influenced by the works of James McNeill Whistler and John Singer Sargent, Kenneth Clark described him as ‘the most reliable portrait painter of his time’. He spent his formative years in Paris and was friends with Degas, Rodin, Somerset Maugham, Walter Sickert, and Clive Bell. He received a Knighthood in 1945 and made surveyor of the Dulwich Collection the same year before succeeding Sir Alfred Munnings as President of the Royal Academy in 1949.

Other items of interest include a George IV Oak Sarcophagus-Shaped Wine Cooler from the first half of the 19^th century, a pair of flintlock pocket pistols from circa 1780, a Regency mahogany hunt or social table from circa 1815, a mid-17^th century rock crystal enamelled heart locket, and a George III black and gilt japanned tavern timepiece, among many other fascinating and beautiful objects to look out for on sale throughout the coming months.

Auction details

Auction location: Dreweatts, Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE
Bidding is available in person at our salerooms, online, by telephone or you can leave commission (absentee) bids. 

Auction calendar:

• 29 May: Art & Interiors | Browse "The Davies-Cooke Collection from Gywsaney Hall"
• 11 June: Old Master, British and European Art
• 12 June: Fine Jewellery
• 24 & 25 June: Fine Furniture, Sculpture, Carpets, Ceramics and Works of Art 
• 6 August: Silver, Watches and Luxury Accessories (* bidding online only)
• 9 September: Fine Clocks, Barometers and Scientific Instruments
• 14 October: Fine Silver

Further information:
General enquiries: + 44 (0) 1635 553 553 | info@dreweatts.com 
Press enquiries: press@dreweatts.com
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^{1 This note is based on G. A. Usher’s book Gwysaney and Owston (Denbigh 1964) and the research of the Mold Civic Society, for which we are grateful.}