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Lot 200 PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF MR AND MRS DAVID WHEELER
David Wheeler was an avid collector. He spent his early childhood in Kensington Palace, where his grandmother, Lady Bertha Dawkins, was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Mary, and he developed a fascination with fine furniture, pictures, sculpture and objets de vertu – particularly French works of art after spending a year at the University of Poitiers. He was often spotted admiring, purchasing and selling gold boxes in Burlington Arcade (see lots 208-211).
David Wheeler married Margita Vanneck in 1961 and, jointly, they worked to save Heveningham Hall, which had been in the Vanneck family from the late 1770s.
The first house on the site in Suffolk was built in 1658 for William Heveningham, but the present house was designed between 1778 and 1780 by Sir Robert Taylor for Sir Gerald Vanneck, 2nd Baronet, with interiors and furniture by James Wyatt. It was completed with 60 rooms and a frontage nearly the width of Buckingham Palace.
Mrs David Wheeler, along with her younger brother, inherited responsibility for Heveningham from their father, Sir Andrew Vanneck, in 1965, and the Wheelers offered the Hall – with principal contents – to the nation that year. It was acquired by English Heritage in 1969, but a few of the furnishings and objects from the Hall were retained by the Wheelers and beautifully woven into their personal collection, four of which are included here (see lots 205, 207, 381 and 382).
David Wheeler was an avid collector. He spent his early childhood in Kensington Palace, where his grandmother, Lady Bertha Dawkins, was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Mary, and he developed a fascination with fine furniture, pictures, sculpture and objets de vertu – particularly French works of art after spending a year at the University of Poitiers. He was often spotted admiring, purchasing and selling gold boxes in Burlington Arcade (see lots 208-211).
David Wheeler married Margita Vanneck in 1961 and, jointly, they worked to save Heveningham Hall, which had been in the Vanneck family from the late 1770s.
The first house on the site in Suffolk was built in 1658 for William Heveningham, but the present house was designed between 1778 and 1780 by Sir Robert Taylor for Sir Gerald Vanneck, 2nd Baronet, with interiors and furniture by James Wyatt. It was completed with 60 rooms and a frontage nearly the width of Buckingham Palace.
Mrs David Wheeler, along with her younger brother, inherited responsibility for Heveningham from their father, Sir Andrew Vanneck, in 1965, and the Wheelers offered the Hall – with principal contents – to the nation that year. It was acquired by English Heritage in 1969, but a few of the furnishings and objects from the Hall were retained by the Wheelers and beautifully woven into their personal collection, four of which are included here (see lots 205, 207, 381 and 382).
A GEORGE III ORMOLU-MOUNTED EBONISED MUSICAL BRACKET CLOCK
WILLIAM MOORE, LONDON, CIRCA 1770
Closed8 June 2021
Price Realised
GBP 6,250