Antiques and fine art: Modern-day Downton Abbey is set to give up its treasures

The late tycoon Edward Haughey was a keen collector with deep pockets, writes Des O’Sullivan.

The Belgrave Square home of Irish tycoon, Edward Haughey, has been described as the Downton Abbey of our times.

The Kilcurry, Co Louth-born pharmaceutical magnate, Lord Ballyedmond (no relation of the late Taoiseach), who died in a helicopter crash in 2014, was a keen collector with very deep pockets.

A reproduction silver wine cistern capable of holding 70 bottles of champagne modelled on a 1719 original by Paul de Lamerie (£80,000-120,000).

Inspired by the Regency and neoclassical designs of Robert Adam, he transformed a once dormant property, in one of London’s most prestigious squares, into a modern evocation of a great Georgian town house.

Along the way, he amassed a collection of paintings, tapestries, porcelain, silver and furniture.

Contents from his extraordinary London home — which formed a backdrop to life at the highest levels of British society — will come under the hammer at Sotheby’s next Tuesday and Wednesday.

The parlour at Edward Haughey’s Belgrave Square residence, which formed the backdrop to life at the highest levels of British society.

Among the lots are a silver wine cistern capable of accommodating over 70 bottles of champagne. This is a 1992 reproduction of a 1719 original by Paul de Lamerie and is estimated at £80,000-120,000.

A 19th century dinner service with the arms of the Thurn and Taxis family is estimated at £2,500-3,500, a portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds of Mrs Richard Pennant has an estimate of £20,000-30,000, and a Louis XV tapestry is estimated at £12,000-18,000.

Other lots include a silver aviary, chandeliers, marble sculptures, clocks and collectibles.

Portrait of Mrs Richard Pennant by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1816 (£20,000-30,000).

Born in 1944, Lord Ballyedmond is renowned as only the second person in history after the Marquess of Lansdowne in the 1920s to have sat in the upper houses of both the Irish and British parliaments.

A second sale, the Ballyedmond collection part II: Gentlemen’s Accessories Online, will open next Tuesday.

It will feature objects like cufflinks, tie pins and watches by makers including Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Boucheron and Tiffany. Estimates range from £150 to £6,000.

A design for life at De Vere’s sale 

Modern furniture stars in tomorrow’s auction, writes Des O’Sullivan

‘Still Life with 8 Forms’ by William Scott is the catalogue cover lot at de Veres (€200,000- €300,000).

Classic 20th-century design furniture is still hot and the design sale at de Vere’s in Dublin tomorrow features plenty.

Arne Jacobsen chairs, a Danish rosewood open bar by Erich Buch, a pair of chairs by Mies van der Rohe for Knoll, rosewood dining tables and desks, easy chairs by Charles and Ray Eames and contemporary design from Italy, France, and Norway, feature.

Among the designers whose work appears are: Grete Jalk, Hans Wegner, Bruno Mathsson, Erik Jorgense, Rolf Benz, and Pierre Paulin.

A set of five Series 7 chairs by Arne Jacobsen by Fritz Hansen (€400-€600)

The catalogue cover lot is a 1970 work by William Scott entitled Still Life with 8 Forms. There is art by Hughie O’Donoghue, Tony O’Malley, Patrick Scott, Barrie Cooke, and even a drypoint print by Picasso.

The Royal College of Physicians, Kildare St, is the venue for the auction at 2.30pm tomorrow and it is on view there from 10am to 5pm today and from 10am tomorrow.