Sotheby’s has announced that it will be offering ‘A Glimpse into the World of Two Legendary Families’ on 24th March featuring prized possessions of the 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma.
Eldest daughter of Britain’s last Viceroy of India, Louis Mountbatten, the late Patricia Edwina Victoria Mountbatten was born in 1924 was remembered for her “unwavering perseverance and beguiling sense of humour”. Patricia inherited precious objects associated with her parents from their glamorous Art Deco penthouse on Park Lane – with treasures from Edwina’s maternal grandfather, the great Edwardian financier Sir Ernest Cassel – and their time in India. Over the course of her life, Lady Mountbatten was the patron of over one hundred charities.
Now, 350 lots from Newhouse, Patricia and John’s charming eighteenth-century home will be offered for sale with estimates ranging from £80 – 100,000. Treasures to be auctioned will include a pair of jewelled gold and enamel elephants from Jaipur estimated at £2,000-3,000, a ‘Tutti Frutti’ style Jewels: A gem set and diamond wreath of carved rubies, emeralds and sapphires estimated at £40,000-60,000 together with other Tutti Frutti style pieces including, dress clips, earrings and a ring.
“Lady Mountbatten’s residence, Newhouse was a private place for entertaining only the closest of family and friends, capturing all the magic of a stately home on an intimate scale. Through her belongings, many passed down from members of the extended family over the years, collectors have the chance to see the story of the twentieth century unfold and acquire evocative vestiges of a glittering way of life,” said, Harry Dalmeny, Sotheby’s Chairman, UK & Ireland.
Patricia’s father Louis had been appointed Britain’s last Viceroy of India, with a mandate to oversee the British withdrawal from the country, and the family grew close to the great leaders, Mahatma Gandhi and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Indeed, following their marriage, the newlyweds John and Patricia Brabourne also spent several months in India. Inscribed in Lord Mountbatten’s handwriting; ‘Edwina from Dickie’ and ‘18 July 1946’, these gold enamel elephants made in Jaipur were a gift from Lord Mountbatten to his wife Edwina commemorating their twenty-fourth wedding anniversary.
