Scotland’s most expensive estate comes to the market
In Downton Abbey last week, the Grantham family talked about selling off parts of their estate to cover the costs of death duties. In Scotland, the death of Sir James Cayzer has led to his family selling off one of their estates. (more…)
A collector of English drawings and watercolours since the age of 14 and second to none as an auctioneer, Eton educated Wyndham hammered down Giacometti’s Walking Man sculpture for £65 million in 2010 and Rubens’ Massacre of the Innocents for £49.5 million in 2002. His glasses saved his sight in a shooting accident in Scotland in 2012 and as a result, he’s turned to raising funds for eye hospitals. Donations reached £579,000 by the end of September 2013 and given that he also just happens to be the model for the tall, distinguished auctioneer portrayed in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, it looks as if he’ll be raiding a few more coffers for this good cause yet.
1928 Rolls Royce Phantom 1 shooting brake comes to the market
Here at The Steeple Times we love unusual shooting brakes and in a 1928 Rolls-Royce Phantom 1, we’ve discovered an especially fantastic one. (more…)
Former John Entwistle Rolls-Royce shooting brake sells for £43,700
John Entwistle of The Who was a man who bought cars “to drink in” given that he never learnt to drive. A Rolls-Royce shooting brake that he commissioned in 1980 that The Steeple Times recently featured sold today at Bonhams for £43,700 including premium. (more…)
Rolls-Royce shooting brake commissioned by John Entwistle of The Who goes to auction
In the manner typical of a rock star, The Who’s John Entwistle never learnt to drive. Instead, the legendary bass player bought cars because he liked to “drink in them”. One – specially adapted to suit an Irish Wolfhound named Fits Perfectly and several Rottweilers – is due at auction on 7th September. (more…)
A wild socialite and daughter of an American textile industrialist, de Janzé is one of the best known members of Kenya’s notorious Happy Valley set and was one of those suspected of the 1941 murder of Lord Errol. This hedonist shot herself and her lover, Raymond de Trafford, in the Garde du Nord railway station in Paris in 1927 and though both survived, she is said to have simply gasped: “Take care of my dog!” as onlookers came to their rescue. Pardoned and fined less than the figure set for shooting a deer out of season, this supposed bipolar disorder sufferer subsequently married and then divorced de Stafford before committing suicide with the very gun she’d used previously. She requested that her friends held a cocktail party on her grave. You couldn’t make it up.
Two auctions featuring Princess Diana, Monica Lewinsky, President Kennedy, Wallis Simpson and Adolf Hitler
This Thursday, the Chelsea Arts Club in London is holding an event to conclude their silent auction of images and paintings by members of heroes and villains. In Los Angeles, on the same day, Nate D. Sanders, a specialist in rare collectibles, is selling some equally if not far more controversial items.
The sale of a Purdey gun engraved with a portrait of Baroness Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher had many devoted followers and fans in her time as Prime Minister. Coal miners, in general, were not amongst them but some like Jimi Heselden OBE (1948 – 2010) used their redundancy payouts to make vast fortunes.
The Steeple Times asks estate agent Edward Thomson: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?
Honesty and integrity.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
My favourite is: “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger” but “Try everything once, except incest and Morris dancing” is more amusing.
Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2013?
Mexicans using live dogs and kittens as shark bait.
Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?
Living in the countryside and most of the time, a river and a dog.
What might you swap all your wealth for?
The love of my life.
Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the banking crisis?
My integrity and reputation is all that I am; all that I can absolutely determine. When you give that up what have you become? The banks no longer have a code. A few prison sentences ought to remind them to gamble their money, not ours.
What phrase or word do you most loathe?
“It’s not my problem”: I absolutely hate the mentality of people who say this.
In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?
Family and friends first and then animal welfare. In particular, beasts of burden across the world.
The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?
Mobile phones are anti-social, but absolutely necessary in today’s world.
If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?
Bill Murray, Ranulph Fiennes, that chap who just survived 40 minutes at depth in the North Sea with 20 minutes of mix (seriously interesting chat to be had there I think), Johnny Cash and oh yes, a seriously amazing and beautiful Australian I know.
If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?
Potted shrimp on toast, lamb cutlets and some very good Stilton. I would have it on the banks of the River Nadder near Salisbury.
What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?
12 noon. Sherry.
A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?
Definitely a cocktail. A Porn Star martini is my current favourite.
Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?
Any that end up in Annabel’s. Call me old hat, but I just love the dance floor in there.
Who is the most positive person you know?
My stepfather, Richard. An extraordinary chap.
What’s your most guilty pleasure?
Smoking. I have to stop again soon.
If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?
A rod and a rifle.
If you were a car, what marque would you be?
My Triumph TR6. My dream car is a 1949 Ferrari 166MM Barchetta.
Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.
I like crooning to old Fred Astaire songs in the shower.
What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?
A carriage clock, two candlesticks, a picture of me releasing a salmon, a wedding invitation and a Herend porcelain rabbit.
Edward Thomson works for Strutt & Parker LLP in their Cadogan Street sales office. Website: http://www.StruttAndParker.com
The tragic story of Oscar Pistorius and the death of Reeva Steenkamp
Oscar Pistorius was a man many rightly came to admire. He achieved the unthinkable on the track and was, as his father, Henke, pointed out “a man strong beyond his years”. In an advert for Nike, he himself is quoted as saying:
“I was born without bones below the knee. I only stand 5ft 2. But this is the body I have been given. This is my weapon. How I conquer. How I wage my war. This is how I have broken the world record 49 times. How I became the fastest thing on legs. This is my weapon. This is how I fight”.
Our picture of the week is of another advertisement in which Pistorius featured for Nike. Titled, rather unfortunately, “I am the bullet in the chamber”, these are words that will now haunt the athlete forever more.
Whatever the truth is behind this tragic story, one person is dead and another’s life and career is now ruined. May the case of Oscar Pistorius be a lesson to us all.
Read statements from the family of Oscar Pistorius on his official website at: http://www.oscarpistorius.com