The Chatsworth attic sale - the largest staged since 1977 - began this morning at 10.30am, and - at barely a sixth of the way through - has already surpassed the pre-sale estimate (£2.5 million for the entire auction) with the total currently standing at £3 million.
Some 400 people are in attendance, and their enthusiasm, pitted against that of the 1,000 people bidding via the phones, live over the internet and through absentee bids, is driving prices well beyond expectations. The sale comprises some 20,000 objects in 1,400 lots, and is being staged in a 20,000 square foot marquee in the grounds of Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.
The top lot thus far is a Magnificent George II Carved White Marble Chimneypiece designed by the masterful William Kent c. 1735, which sold for £565,250 - far above its pre-sale estimate of £200,000-300,000.
-
The pink granite chateau that the Cointreau family built in the Loire Valley is for sale at £3.5 millionThe great country seats of the Guinness family have an equivalent over the Channel, where the chateau built by the Cointreau family is on the market.
-
Quiz ahoy! Even these gorgeous mice have been waiting for the Country Life Quiz of the Day, November 21, 2025From school reports in South America, it's all in today's Country Life quiz.
