The collection, which includes a 19th century backgammon and chess table, a Chippendale-style chair and the painting Les Anemones by Louis Valtat, is on show at the Pimlico Road branch of Haynes Fine Art, which has a second branch in the Cotswolds, from March 8-31.
“The Vivien Leigh Collection is not for sale,” Haynes says. “I think it should be kept together rather than individual pieces disappearing to various parts of the world.”
Leigh, the Oscar-winning actor, was best known for her role as Scarlett O’Hara in the 1939 epic Gone with the Wind. At Sotheby’s London last September, many pieces from her collection, which she had built up with her husband Laurence Olivier, were auctioned off for a total of £2.2m.
On Broadway
Among the lots are those now appearing at Haynes, such as an 18th century tapestry wing-back armchair which Leigh and Olivier acquired in 1949 from HW Keil in Broadway (the same Cotwolds village where Haynes has its branch).
A letter from the seller records the visit. Keil writes: “Dear Lady Vivien, We were very pleased indeed to see Sir Laurence and yourself in our showrooms yesterday… I am sending a photograph of the fine Queen Anne chair covered in the 17th century tapestry.
“This armchair is well worth possessing since it has a very fine frame and the upholstery is thoroughly clean.”
He offered it to the couple for £260.
Haynes adds: “The business has been in my family since my father started it in 1971. He bought 92 room-sets over the years; this is my first, which we will keep to show at our Broadway gallery in the Cotswolds at some later point.
“I have been offered some serious money for some of the pieces but my children, who have joined the business, can decide how it will be used in years to come.”
