Each measuring 4ft 6in wide by 21in deep by 2ft 81/2in high (1.37m x 53 x 82.5cm), the benches were set a rather relaxed estimate of £120,000-200,000 and were sold, after a contest on the telephones, to London dealers Jeremy Ltd, for £240,000 plus 15 per cent buyer’s premium and VAT. This result
contrasts with the hammer price of £32,000 for an unattributed pair of benches of identical design, with the same stork crests to the double chair backs, sold at Christie’s King Street on November 17, 1994 as the property of the late Miss Esmee Southey.
George III pair of mahogany hall benches
Sourced from a small church in the West Country but apparently once part of the furniture at William Beckford’s splendid Fonthill Abbey, this George III pair of mahogany hall benches (one shown) were the highlight of Duke’s sale in Dorchester on April 17.
