Catherine Southon is including a pair of Sir Winston's tortoiseshell glasses in her December 6 auction held at Farleigh Golf Club, near Croydon. The spectacles, made by his optician CW Dixey & Sons, are estimated at £1000-2000.
The full-rimmed round glasses, with white dot to tip of each arm, contained within a leather spectacle case embossed C.W.Dixey & Son London 1777, come with with a typed statement from Director of C.W. Dixey Mr P. Varnes verifying that the spectacles were made for Sir Winston.
The statement says that “usually three pairs of spectacles were made to Churchill’s prescription and kept at the Cavendish Square showroom, later the Wigmore Street practice”.
After Sir Winston’s death CW Dixey had three pairs of Churchill's spectacles still in its possession. It is believed one pair was given to Chartwell (Churchill's Kent home now run by the National Trust), one pair auctioned in 2011 (see note below) and this is the final pair.
The spectacles were given to the present owner by Varnes. That owner, also an optician, was developing a new range of spectacles in the style of Churchill and Varnes said he should “have the real thing”.
Churchill was very fond of his distinctive eye-wear – either half-eye or the fully round style which were tailored for specific purposes and marked accordingly. The metal dots in the corner of the frame indicate its purpose - one dot for reading only and two dots for speeches, but he also had specially made glasses for sketching, painting, or card playing.
The wartime prime minister was often seen wearing the circular tortoiseshell spectacles in his later years. He had several made, so he would always have spares and if there was anything wrong with them, they would then be left with opticians Dixey for repairs.
This framed charcoal on paper study of Sir Winston Churchill wearing his artist's hat is also on offer in the December 6 Catherine Southon auction. It is catalogued as British School, mid 20th century, has an indistinct signature lower right, and measures 15 x 12in (39 x 31cm) not including the frame.
Churchill glasses at 2011 sale
In March 2011 Northamptonshire auction house JP Humbert offered a pair of Sir Winston’s glasses. The BBC reported then that a Winston Churchill lookalike was among those bidding for the spectacles made for the wartime PM in 1954.
The report added: “Impersonator Derek Herbert was trying to reclaim the tortoiseshell glasses for their original manufacturer CW Dixey & Son of Wigmore Street, London.”
But the glasses, still in their blue leather case, were bought by a phone bidder for £11,200.
Churchill on film
Darkest Hour is released in the UK on January 12. It is out in the US on December 22. It stars Gary Oldman as Sir Winston and Kristin Scott Thomas as his wife Clementine.
