Christie’s will offer The Robin and Rupert Hambro Collection in a live auction on 8 June in London. This collection – from Ebury Street in London, Copse Farm in Hampshire and Saint-Rémy in Provence – provides a perfect self-portrait of this remarkable couple, weaving together all the rich strands of their dynamic and creative life together, which spanned art, fashion, finance and business. Comprising 194 lots, the sale presents an important group of Modern British Art and Sculpture, Jewellery, Impressionist, Post-War and Contemporary Art, Furniture and Old Master Paintings. The top lots are two playful monkeys, Singe Alternatif SIII and Singe Alternatif SIV, by François-Xavier Lalanne, each with an estimate of £800,000-1,200,000 (illustrated above). With estimates ranging from £300 to £1,200,000, all lots with an estimate of £1,000 or less will be offered with no reserve. The pre-sale public exhibition will be open from 3 to 8 June in London; the Lalanne Singes will be on view in Paris between 22 and 26 May and exhibited as Proto holograms in New York until 8 June.
Born in America, Robin Hambro (1934-2022) started her career as a model, photographed by the leading photographers of the day including Horst P. Horst and Norman Parkinson, going on to become the American Director of Public Relations for Christian Dior Couture (1962-64), Fashion Editor (1967-70) and later the London Editor of American Vogue (1970-73), before working at Christie’s (1987-2001), and later as an artist and art advisor. Rupert Hambro (1943-2021) was the eldest of the three sons of Jocelyn Hambro and great-grandson of Carl Joachim Hambro, who had moved from Denmark to London in 1839 and founded the banking house of C.J. Hambro. Rupert had a long and distinguished career in finance and business, latterly as co-founder of Hambro Perks and Chairman of Robinson Hambro. Robin and Rupert married in 1970.
Robin and Rupert Hambro’s London home on Ebury Street was a hidden architectural gem: an early Georgian ‘country house’ in Mozart’s terrace, published in Architectural Digest in 1995, whose restrained façade belied the unique, bold and vibrant artistic vision within. Having worked at American Vogue in the late 1960s in New York and then in London in the early 1970s, the fashion editor’s eye was evident everywhere – both in how the works were juxtaposed, as well as how old favourites were given new life in renewed arrangements. There was an abiding love and loyalty to ‘old friends’ like painted furniture – she herself painted a collection for the celebrated French house of Jansen – and the wonderful group of Old Master drawings, which appeared in different incarnations at every move. There was also an Anglo-American ‘Nancy Lancaster’ inspired taste for blue and white porcelain and especially dogs, painted by everyone from de Dreux to Desportes, with Pekineses the overwhelming favourites.
Robin’s knowledge of the art world and the act of creation as a painter led her to constantly refresh the collection and take it in an increasingly 20th-century Modernist direction. Modern British Art, including works by David Hockney, Ivon Hitchens and Craigie Aitchison, filled Ebury Street with vibrant colour. Sculpture became a particular focus, including important works by the female artists Barbara Hepworth and Emily Young, the latter commanding the focal point of the water garden at Copse Farm, alongside works by Antony Gormley and Sir Christopher Le Brun; whilst two playful Singes by François-Xavier Lalanne adorned the mantelpiece in London. The jewellery designer’s understanding of line and craftsmanship – she designed, created and sold a jewellery collection for Hennells of Bond Street – was also evident in her personal choice of jewels. The Robin and Rupert Hambro Collection bears witness to two extraordinary people and celebrates their life-enhancing legacy.
Highlights from the collection include:
The animal motif suffused François-Xavier Lalanne’s oeuvre, which throughout his entire career was populated by animals of an exceptionally symbolic nature, the most noteworthy being the sheep and the monkey, with both invading homes and cities far away from their natural habitats; in the same way the two Singes in the Hambro collection (each with an estimate of £800,000-1,200,000, illustrated on page 1) have been made to climb mantelpieces (shown left in the drawing room at Ebury Street).
The rich array of Modern British Art includes, from left to right: Seated Model in the Studio (Henry Thomas) 1936, a magnificent example of Glyn Warren Philpot’s sensitive later style (estimate: £80,000-120,000); Head (Ra) by Dame Barbara Hepworth, conceived in marble in 1971 and cast in bronze in 1972 by Morris Singer Founders, London (estimate: £300,000-500,000); Emily Young’s (B. 1951) unique sculpture Time Boy, Speleothem onyx, carved in 2011 (estimate: £200,000-300,000) and Sir Antony Gormley’s 6 Times Sky, a poignant and contemplative example of Antony Gormley’s most recognised motif: his own body; signed with initials, numbered, dated and stamped with the artist’s reference number ‘AMDG 2/5/ 2009’, executed in 2009 in an edition of 5, plus the artist’s cast (estimate: £250,000-350,000).
Impressionist, Modern, Post War and Contemporary Art within the collection includes, from left to right: Marino Marini’s Cavallo e cavaliere, 1954 (estimate: £60,000-80,000); André Brasilier’s Grand bouquet de lis, 1988 (estimate: £30,000-50,000); Alexander Calder’s Pontiac, 1970 (estimate: £40,000-60,000) and Miquel Barceló’s, Calcaires, 2005 (estimate: £50,000-80,000).
Animal and bird motifs are evident throughout the collection from the top lots to other highlights including, from left to right: John James Audubon (1785-1851), Snowy Owl (Plate CXXI) Strix Nyctea, a hand-coloured engraving with aquatint and etching which isone of only three night scenes depicted in The Birds of America (estimate: £40,000-60,000); Dylan Lewis’s Striding fragment maquette, signed, numbered and dated ‘Dylan Lewis/ 2000 2/12’ (on the base) bronze with a brown patina, number two from an edition of twelve plus two artist’s proofs, conceived in 2000 (estimate: £5,000-8,000); Portrait d’enfant assis avec ses chiens signed ‘Alfred De Dreux‘, circa 1855-1858, provides a rare insight into this artist’s studio (estimate: £30,000-50,000); English School, late 17th century Hounds and monkeys trapping partridge in a landscape (estimate: £15,000-20,000) and Geoffrey Dashwood’s Cockerel signed and numbered ‘Dashwood, 7/12’ (estimate: £2,000-3,000).
Reflecting Robin Hambro’s elegance and glamour, jewellery highlights include, from left to right: a Bulgari gem-set ‘tubogas’ collar and bracelet set, with amethyst, peridot and sapphire cabochons, stainless steel linking, each signed Bulgari and numbered (estimate: £3,000-5,000); a Marina B diamond and lacquer collar necklace, with a trilliant-cut diamond of approximately 2.95 carats, black lacquer, steel, gold (French marks), signed MB for Marina B (estimate: £6,000-8,000); and a Verdura pair of ‘criss-cross’ cuff bangles of lattice design, signed Verdura (estimate: £8,000-12,000).