• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

News and entertainment worth sharing – York and North Yorkshire

  • News
  • Things to do
  • Radio
  • More
    • Food & drink
    • Business
  • About
    • Comments
    • Advertise
    • Contact us
  • Radio
  • WIN
  • Vouchers
  • Choice Awards
  • Listen live »
Selby Residents' Festival

Castle Howard sells treasures to fund its upkeep

Castle Howard. Photograph: visityork.com
Sun 29 Mar, 2015 @ 8.03 pm History YorkMix

Old Masters and antique furniture from Castle Howard will go under the hammer as the great country house looks to raise millions of pounds for its upkeep.

The ten treasures could raise as much as £10 million at a sale by auction house Sotheby’s London this summer.

They are being offered for sale by Castle Howard trustees to pay for the continued conservation of the 300-year-old house.

Nicholas Howard said trustees had a responsibility to look after the estate which has been in his family’s ownership throughout its history.

If the sale helps to secure that heritage as the house moves into its fourth century then it will have achieved its goal.

To this end, we have selected for sale at Sotheby’s a small number of works which, while of great intrinsic interest, have been carefully chosen so as not to detract from the overall integrity of the collection.

Brother Simon Howard, who relinquished his role as chairman of the estate to Nicholas and his wife Victoria at the end of last year, agreed.

Running Castle Howard for the last 30 years has been an immense privilege.

Now, as a new chapter in its history opens, the sales that we are planning at Sotheby’s will make an important contribution to the long term future of the Castle Howard estate and collections.

‘One of the world’s finest collections’

Successive generations of the family have added to Castle Howard’s art collections which span two millennia.

Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe Henry Wyndham said they “rank among the finest private art collections in the world”.

“The carefully selected group of works to be auctioned this summer is testament to the taste of a series of enlightened art patrons,” he said.

Here are some of the works of art up for grabs at the Old Masters and Treasures sales on July 8.

castle-howard-venice-bellotto

A View of The Grand Canal by Bernardo Bellotto

Estimated price tag: £2.5-£3.5 million. One of the earliest and most important examples of works by Bellotto purchased by a British patron. Painted in 1738 when Bellotto was just 16 years old, at a time when he was working in the studio of his uncle Canaletto.

Italian pietre dure inlaid cabinets

Italian pietre dure inlaid cabinets

Estimated price tag: £700,000-­£1m. These highly prized cabinets were purchased in Rome in 1739, together with another pair which remains in the Castle Howard collection.

Altogether there are ten works in the sale. Portrait of a Boy (1801) by Bernardo Bellotto is described as the finest portrait by the artist, who was once a student of Rembrandt (est: £2-3million).

A portrait of King Henry VIII, from the studio of Hans Holbein, dating from 1542, the year when Catherine Howard was beheaded on the grounds of alleged adultery (est: £800,000-£1.2m).

Castle Howard coup: Simon relinquishes control to brother

Six amazing York ‘then and now’ photographs that transport you through time

Fought in battle, hanged at York? Richard III ‘soldier’ skeletons found

Sun 29 Mar, 2015

1 Comment
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Mark Anderson
7 years ago

shame that its having to come to this,

0

Footer

YorkMix
News 01904 848 766
Email YorkMix news »
5-6 King's Court, Shambles, York  YO1 7LD
YorkMix Radio
General enquiries 01904 375 029
Studio/competitions 01904 375 030
Email YorkMix Radio »
Selby Superbowl, Bawtry Road, Selby  YO8 8NA
YorkMix is a trading name of YorkMix Media Ltd
Registered in England
Company number: 07814727
VAT number: 154 0364 34
© York Sound Ltd

Copyright © 2023 YorkMix Media Ltd

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
wpDiscuz