Fine Zoffany pair to be auctioned
September 6 2011
Picture: Sotheby's
Sotheby's are first out of the blocks with their December Old Master sale highlights. They have secured an impressive pair of paintings by Johann Zoffany, both showing David Garrick, the celebrated actor. Above is The Garden at Hampton House, with Mr & Mrs Garrick taking tea (1762). The other is Mr & Mrs by the Shakespeare Temple at Hampton (also 1762).
The pictures will be sold together with an estimate of £6-8m at Sotheby's December sales. The full Sotheby's press release is here.
The pictures were both part of the important Zoffany exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in 1976. Then they were listed as being part of the collection of the Earls of Durham, and as far as I know they still are. The late Earl of Durham was the infamous government minister, Lord Lambton, who scandalised society in the '60s by frequenting prostitutes. He was caught because he insisted on paying by cheque. The current Earl, the 7th, lives at Lambton Castle and Biddick Hall. He used to be play in a band called 'The Frozen Turkeys'.
