There's Cash in the Attic!

What’s in Your Attic?!

We all dream of rooting around in our attics and stumbling upon a few lost old masters, left their by dear old Aunt Mildred. Well, I do anyway!

For some, this is not a dream but a reality as the Earl Spencer recently demonstrated with the “Althorp Attic Sale”. 750 exciting, dusty, forgotten and discarded ‘relics’ went under the hammer at Christies Auctioneers last week, in London. What an eclectic sale it was too!

500 of the lots were from the attics, stables and cellars at Althorp, the childhood home of Diana, Princess of Wales. Christies specialist Andy Waters and his colleague, Jeffrey Lassaline, senior specialist in the silver department, had the utter joy and pleasure of sifting through the treasure trove and were like two little boys in a sweet shop! They uncovered everything the inventive aristocrat required for a well-rounded existence, from horse-drawn carriages and coachmen’s livery to several centuries of textiles, fine furniture, old cricket bats, ice skates, snuffboxes and beechwood shovels. Imagine!

The highlight of the auction was a speculative lot that has been the cause of much controversy. “The Portrait of a Commander Being Dressed for Battle” attributed to Sir Peter Paul Rubens, the Flemish Old Master (1577-1640). It was acquired by the Spencer family back in 1802 – bought then with a possible attribution to Rubens. In the two hundred years since, experts have been divided as to its authenticity to this very day. Christies maintain the work is a hallmark Rubens – Sothebys are not quite so sure! But hey ho – the painting fetched the second highest price for a Rubens work ever and sold for £9m all the same. Excuse me for one sec, whilst I just gasp!

Andy Waters, at Christies, described the whole experience akin to discovering Tutankhamun. “I crept along by the light of my torch,” he says. “I could see some brass flashing in the darkness. I went back for a plug-in light so I could see what was in this dark corner. Wrapped in old newspapers was a complete Victorian batterie de cuisine – more than 100 pieces, including copper pans, fish kettles and jelly moulds, that had been put aside 60 or 70 years ago and not used since.”.

In all, the sale realised a staggering £21.1 million pounds. Not bad for a few old discarded things in ones attic, eh?! I am delighted to hear that the money raised will be going towards vital repairs to the restoration of Althorp House. Well done Earl Spencer.

It just goes to show, there’s certainly ‘cash in the attic!’. So, who’s first up the stairs to their attic then!?