A DUMFRIES HOUSE AUCTION CATALOGUE
CHRISTIE'S, LONDON, 2007
Auction: Day 1: Wednesday 20 August - Lots 1 - 296
Description
‘Dumfries House: A Chippendale Commission’, 2 vol, colour illustrations, Christie's, 2007
Dimensions
30cm high
Footnote
A catalogue of the superb collection of furniture by Thomas Chippendale and others, much of it specially commissioned for the Palladian house designed by John and Robert Adam for the 5th Earl of Dumfries, later inherited by the Marquess of Bute. In order to pay death duties the 7th Marquess put the estate and house contents up for sale but at the last moment a consortium led by King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, raised the funds to save it for the nation. This bid to save the collection was so much at the eleventh hour that the catalogues for the sale had already been printed and some of the furniture had already left the house for London.