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Jun 2024
Baroness Masham's items to be auctioned
Items that belonged to an aristocratic home in Masham are to go under the hammer.
Auctioneers Tennants will sell the selected contents of Dykes Hill House at its Leyburn showroom on September 13.
Dykes Hill House was built in 1955 on the 20,000 Swinton estate that has belonged to the Cunliffe-Lister family since the 1880s.
It was home to the second Earl and Countess of Swinton, David Yarburgh Cunliffe-Lister, who was deputy chief whip in the House of Lords under Margaret Thatcher from 1982 to 1986, and his wife Susan Cunliffe-Lister, Countess of Swinton, Baroness Masham of Ilton.
The earl died in in 2006. His widow, who was a prominent disability rights camapiagner and a former Paralympic athlete, continued to lead a full life as a British crossbench peer in the House of Lords until her death in March last year.
The fourth earl and the trustees of the Lord Swinton Will Trust have now instructed Tennants to conduct what it is calling the Swinton Sale.
The lots include English and continental furniture, paintings, sculpture and Chinese works of art.
A pair of William IV silver candelabra by John Houle are estimated to fetch £8,000 to 12,000, which belonged to the former Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel are among the items to be sold.
A painting depicting a view of Santa Maria della Salute at the entrance to the Grand Canal in Venice is expected to fetch £7,000-10,000.
There are also mounted pieces of Chinese ormolu porcelain, a Charles II black japanned cabinet on stand with gilt decoration dating from the late 17th century (estimate: £3,000-5,000) and a William IV Silver-Gilt Kettle on a stand by Paul Storr (£6,000-8.000).
Follower of Bernardo Bellotto (1721-1780), A View of Santa Maria del Salute and the entrance to the Grand Canal, Venice
About Dykes Hill House
The Earl of Swinton is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1955 for the prominent Conservative politician Philip Cunliffe-Lister, 1st Viscount Swinton.
The first earl was succeeded by his grandson David Yarburgh Cunliffe-Lister in 1972.
He served as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard as well as deputy chief whip in the House of Lords from 1982 to 1986.
In 1959 the second earl became engaged to Susan Sinclair, who suffered a life changing injury shortly before their wedding when she was thrown from her horse, causing her to be paralysed from the waist down.
A George VI Silver Seal-Matrix of the Duchy of Lancaster, Probably Designed by Edward Carter Preston, Supplied by the Royal Mint, Circa 1951
The marriage went ahead, and the newly married couple proceeded to design and build a spectacular house not far from Swinton Park to accommodate Lady Masham’s injury, named Dykes Hill House.
A William IV Silver-Gilt Kettle, Stand and Lamp, by Paul Storr, London, 1832, The Finial by Edward and John Barnard, London, Circa 1860
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