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Vol I: Printed Books And Manuscripts [314] pp. 216 lots Vol II: Furniture, Silver And Porcelain [303] pp. Lots 301-473 Vol III: Pictures And Watercolours [215] pp. Lots 501-627 Christie's London 2002 11 3/4" x 8 1/4" The Marquess of Bath revealed yesterday that he is to auction historical treasures from Longleat, one of Britain's most magnificent stately homes, but rejected suggestions he was "selling the family silver". He is seeking to raise at least £15m for a maintenance fund, but it is believed that the sale could realise £20m. Around 400 lots including Dutch old masters, furniture, porcelain and rare books, will be auctioned by Christie's in London on June 13 and 14 to create a maintenance fund for the 9,000 acre estate in Wiltshire, where the number of visitors was hit last year by the foot and mouth crisis. However, Lord Bath said that while he and the Longleat trustees were saddened by the move, more than 70% of the items had no long-term connection to the house or his family, having been inherited from another house in Northamptonshire shortly after the second world war. He said Longleat's extensive "core collection" would remain untouched. Speaking at Christie's yesterday, Lord Bath, 69, said: "This is no easy decision but we believe it to be the right one if Longleat is to remain a vibrant, living entity." Longleat attracted some 360,000 visitors last year, against 400,000 a year in recent times. But Lord Bath said that the decision to hold the auction would have been taken regardless of foot and mouth. But Longleat's various leisure businesses had "kept us afloat when the traditional sources of agriculture and forestry were in steady decline" and conservation was crucial. Lord Bath said the sale had not been forced on him but that maintenance would suffer without it. Lord Hindlip, chairman of Christie's, said the sale would leave the grandeur of the house "unscratched." He described the lots as remarkable, and said the sale could raise up to £20m. Charles Cator, chairman of Christie's UK, said: "Longleat still has a magnificent collection of 17th and 18th century French furniture, Elizabethan portraits and Italian renaissance paintings as well as many other wonderful things." Of the Dutch old masters to be auctioned, two of the most important are a pair of full-length portraits by Gerard Terborch, which are expected to fetch between £500,000 and £700,000 in total.
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