The contents of the London home of the late businessman Edward Haughey have sold for £4.35 million (€5.03million) at auction at Sotheby’s in London.
The sale included over 500 lots of valuable silver, and fine furniture accumulated by the pharmaceuticals tycoon who died in a helicopter crash in 2014.
The Northern Irishman, who was not related to the former Taoiseach Charles Haughey, was a Westminster peer and, previously, a member of the Irish Senate. He left properties worth hundreds of millions, including a townhouse in Belgrave Square which will be sold separately, a 1,000 acre shooting estate in Norfolk and a castle in Rostrevor, Co Down.
Also known as Lord Ballyedmond of Mourne, Haughey was renowned for his lavish hospitality in his several homes and several of the best selling lots in the sale were among the silverware and table accoutrements.
A monumental silver wine cooler sold for stg £112,500 (€129 ,993) while a Victorian silver gilt Canova pattern dessert service fetched stg £93,750 (€108,357) against a top estimate of stg£7,000 (€8,090).
An extensive French dinner service by Odiot, Prevost &Cie of Paris, made in 1905 made stg £50,000 (€57,793) under the hammer while an Irish George IV silver-gilt presentation salver made by James Fray of Dublin fetched stg £43,750 (€50,566). It was bought by an antiques dealer, while most of top ten lots were bought by private collectors according to Sotheby’s
Chandeliers and elaborate ornaments were also among the most expensive lots with a set of four modern Sheffield silver candelabra selling for stg£68,750 (€79,442) while a Victorian cut glass 36-light chandelier made double its estimate at stg£43,7540 (€50,560).
