It would be true to say that Niall Hobhouse frequently reshuffles and refines his ever-growing range of interests, intellectually sifting and reappraising. In the introduction to Niall’s 2008 auction catalogue, “West-East; The Niall Hobhouse Collection,” James Miller remarked that every decade appears to bring an event into Niall’s life which expands his perspectives and nudges him onto a new path. And so it was, with little surprise, that two years ago Niall and his team at Drawing Matter uplifted their offices and archive from re-fashioned Somerset farm buildings, set within the Hadspen estate, relocating a new home in Covent Garden, central London.

Drawing Matter is a Charitable Trust established and chaired by Niall to explore the role of drawing in architectural thought and practice, through workshops, public events, exhibitions and publications. Central to Niall and his team’s activities is the Drawing Matter Collection of many thousands of architectural and design drawings from across the world dating from the Renaissance to the present day. Niall remains deeply committed to the Charitable Trust and its ongoing work.

In 2013 Niall sold Hadspen (now renamed The Newt), the stunning Palladian house, which had been in the Hobhouse family since the late 18th century, and focused his energies on Drawing Matter and his Dairy House retreat close by. At Hadspen he had created a succession of memorable rooms, filled with the unusual and the esoteric. As James Miller noted in the Christie’s catalogue ‘there were no boundaries to Niall’s taste, what mattered was the quality and distinctiveness of the pieces themselves.’

Niall moved into the Dairy House at Shatwell Farm and his next vision was no less daring. He took with him a few pieces of inherited eighteenth century neo-classical mahogany and mixed them with a distinctive ‘Hobhousian’ mélange of old master and architectural drawings and strikingly progressive contemporary design. Creating – in typical Hobhouse fashion – a new set of very personalised and beguiling rooms. As with the interiors Niall had previously created at Hadspen, there was little attempt made to blend the objects, rather they stood out in strong juxtaposition creating unfamiliar contrasts.

After Drawing Matter had vacated the farm buildings – so imaginatively restored and repurposed into office space – Niall then took the decision to sell the Dairy House which he and the architect Charlotte Skene Catling had recast into a modern living space with underlit floors, layered oak and glass walls, exposed red painted iron girders and cattle trough bathtubs.

The objects found in this sale, removed from the Dairy House, office space and store are less ‘West and East’, but rather more influenced by Niall’s fascination with contemporary design and architectural contrasts. Richard Ross’ photograph of the 17th century Gothenburg Town Hall with its functionalist 1936 extension by leading Swedish architect Gunnar Aspland illustrates how the ‘New’ can be successfully integrated with the ‘Old’. Old themes do persist such as Niall’s interest in topographical views – led here by the four glorious sweeping views of the Crimean Peninsula after Thomas Parker, along with works from the Indian sub-continent, some dating back to Niall’s pioneering dealership ‘Eyre & Hobhouse’.

Whilst Niall’s curiosity and restlessness will persist, this sale gives the buyer the opportunity to select pieces for their own collections which have been caught in Niall’s intellectual and aesthetic searchlight. There is furniture from the English architect Cedric Price and from the studios of the Italian architect Vittorio Ballio Morpurgo and artist designer Duilio Cambellotti – and more contemporary pieces by Paul Rudolph, Maarten Baas and Marcel Wanders. And there are idiosyncratic objects and unusual paintings from different centuries and places which contrast with very precise architectural models recording the creative process. All carry with them the distinctive Hobhouse approach of informal assemblage and each will undoubtably give great pleasure to their new owners.

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Auction Details

Wednesday 13 May 2026, 10.30am BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

The Collection of Christopher Smallwood | Lots 400-567
The Collection of Niall Hobhouse | Lots 575-691

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• Viewing at Dreweatts London (highlights): 16-17 Pall Mall, SW1Y 5LU
  • Monday 27 April: 10am-4pm
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  • Wednesday 29 April: 10am-7pm
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  • Friday 8 May: 10am-4pm
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