On June 30-July 1 the firm sold residual lots from Julians Park, a Hertfordshire estate and home to the family of Audrey Pleydell-Bouverie (1902-68), lady-in-waiting to the queen. She counted the likes of Cecil Beaton, Coco Chanel, Salvador DalÍ and Fred and Adele Astaire in her social circle.
It was after her second marriage to the American department-store heir Marshall Field III had failed that she returned to London and in 1936 bought The Holme, the landmark villa in Regent’s Park, which she had remodelled in the Vogue Regency style by the interior designer Stéphane Boudin of French atelier Maison Jansen.
When she moved to Julians Park, Boudin again assisted with the decoration.
Christie’s sold the lion’s share of the valuable lots on June 8, leaving some notable items among the 46 lots offered by Cheffins, not least this Italian white marble bust of the young Bacchus, 22in (55cm) high.
It was catalogued as 18th century or earlier. The hammer price of £20,000 (estimate £500-1000) suggested some confidence it might be Roman.
