Flaxley Abbey An Oliver Messel Commission/ Chilham Castle Contents From A Christopher Gibbs Interior 2022 Dreweatts
$500
The Collection Formerly Flaxley Abbey An Oliver Messel Commission
[184] pp.
294 lots
Chilham Castle Contents From A Christopher Gibbs Interior
[110] pp.
Lots 300-457
Dreweatts
2022
10 5/8" x 8 1/4"
Fine
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The sale catalogue for the collection of Flaxley Abbey, in Gloucestershire, a country house with interiors by Oliver Messel. Several of the pieces in the collection were supplied by Messel, often from his own collection. A handful of Messel's theatre designs are included. The catalogue includes b&w photographs of the original interiors from Country Life. Flip over the catalogue and there is another collection from Chilham Castle, with interiors by Christopher Gibbs.
Introduction by Thomas Messel. Dreweatts. Newbury. Monday 3 October 2022. Paperback, quarto; illustrated wrappers. 193, 115 pages. Illustrated throughout in colour & b&w. English. 270 x 210mm. 1.2kg. . Fine
The interiors of Flaxley Abbey were designed by theatre and set designer Oliver Messel, one of the most iconic figures of twentieth century design and represented one of his most important and complete commissions, being the only country house ever to be designed by him. The sale saw strong bidding from across the globe. Private, trade and collector clients competed online, on the phones and in the room, all trying to capture a piece of design history. The auction was a white glove event with all lots selling and totalling £877,850 (nearly three times the pre-sale estimate).
The collection comprised host of works either designed by Oliver Messel or supplied by him, with a substantial number of items from his ancestral homes, Nymans, Holmstead Manor, Lancaster Gate and his London home on Pelham Place. The top selling item from the auction was Lot 76, an Anglo-Dutch School (circa 1740) oil on canvas. This work was in the collection of Colonel Leonard and Maud Messel in the drawing room at Holmstead Manor. It is likely that, like so much of the Messel collection, it was originally at Nymans and removed to Holmstead after the disastrous fire in 1947. After the death of his mother in 1960, Oliver Messel inherited the picture but later sold it between 1962 and 1966 to Frederick Baden-Watkins for the dining room at Flaxley Abbey. It sold for an impressive £37,500, against a pre-sale estimate of £7,000-10,000.
Also from the Crawley Boevey collection, original to Flaxley Abbey, was Lot 41, a late 18th/early 19th century carved giltwood mirror, made in the manner of Thomas Chippendale, which sold for £32,500. Under Oliver Messel, the interiors at Flaxley Abbey were restored to their former period style. It seems likely that he incorporated this historic mirror from the original Crawley-Boevey family collection into his scheme for the Morning Room after it had been bought by Frederick Baden Watkins in the 1960s.
Finally, designed by Oliver Messel and made by Victor Afia, was Lot 70, a set of eighteen cream and green painted dining chairs. 'The Dining Room Chairs' of the same design were used in the scheme for the formal living room at Maddox, Messel's Barbadian home. The present lot had a pre-sale estimate of £3,000-5,000, but went on to realise £30,000.