Description
Royal House Antiques
Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this once in a lifetime opportunity to own this custom made suite of Hermes Paris “Farming” picnic equipment, Barenia Edition to include a pair of Wine Coolers, a pair of Champagne Buckets and a pair of Pitcher Jugs custom made to order for Lady Victoria De Rothschild in 2015.
Please note the delivery fee listed is just a guide, it covers within the M25 only for the UK and local Europe only for international, if you would like an accurate quote please send me your postcode and I’ll provide you with the exact price
These are the only examples in the world of this particular picnic set, they were made to order from Lady Victoria de Rothschild in 2015, purchased by myself at the estate sale after her passing.
Each piece is expertly crafted to the finest standard by the genius’s that are Hermes Paris, the wicker has been finely woven and houses perfectly polished chrome cases, the handles are hand stitched and signed Hermes Paris in leather. The wine coolers come complete with four cooler bottles which can be frozen
Each piece of chrome has been professionally restored and polished to the highest standards by Penhaligan Silverwear LTD London in cooperation with Strong and Woodhatch.
Dimensions pair of wine coolers
Height:- 18cm
Dimensions pair of pitcher jugs
Height:- 21.3cm
Dimensions pair of champion buckets
Height:- 12.5cm
Please note all measurements are taken at the widest point.
Victoria, Lady de Rothschild (1949-2021
Victoria was born and spent her formative years in the sunshine of Florida; the warm rays and the life-style of Palm Beach brought her a freedom of spirit that remained with her throughout her life and informed and shaped her taste. Later the family moved to Manhattan; her mother, Marcia Lou Whitney Schott, was a woman of great poise and style and remained a huge and lasting inspiration to her daughter.
After coming to London, as a young adult, to dip her toe into British culture, she went back to the US and gained a degree in economics at Trinity College Hartford. Three years later, through mutual friends she met and married Sir Evelyn de Rothschild. They returned to the UK and made their homes in London and in the Rothschild family house in Buckinghamshire; Victoria bringing to the formal landscape of these two houses a transatlantic chic and her own particular quiet exoticism. The history of collecting in the Rothschild family is meticulously documented and was well known to Victoria, it was music to her ears. She continued the tradition and over a period of 40 years gathered together a remarkable and eclectic collection of furniture, glass, china, silver and jewellery. She bought instinctively and decisively; in later years the collection was curated by her great friend, decorator and dress designer, Tomasz Starzewski.
There was nothing that Victoria enjoyed more than entertaining her friends and giving them exquisitely wrapped presents. In her last flat, she had a room entirely set aside for present wrapping. It was here that she kept exotic Japanese tissue papers in graded shades, antique rolls of striped ribbons and haute couture silk ones, ready for when a friend had a birthday. Entertaining remained one of her greatest pleasures, and she did this on two levels: the very large dinners for 200 or 250 people, to the more intimate events for family, friends, children and grandchildren. Whatever the circumstances, like an impresario rising to the challenge, she would set to work, with an awesome attention to detail that seemed effortless; she was brimming full of ideas. I remember in particular one birthday dinner when the ceiling of the dining room was covered with hovering aubergine coloured balloons, echoing the violet napkins below. Her large-scale entertainments were memorable; there was an anniversary dinner at Lords Cricket Ground, where the tablecloths were made of white cricket flannel and boiled brisket was served, so simple, witty, understated, whilst Rory Bremner provided the cabaret. On the occasion of her daughter’s 21st birthday, she transformed the Royal College of Art into a replica of the 20th century nightclub ‘El Morocco’ in New York for the evening, with Manhattan taxis waiting outside to take the guests home.
Victoria’s greatest talent however was in creating tablescapes. This was almost like choreography, and there was always an element of the unexpected. The starting point was a textured fabric – her version of a tablecloth – be it a woven Kente from Ghana, a patchwork quilted sari from India, or a gossamer light runner; the variety of texture and colour enthralled her. She would lay the table, instinctively moving glass, silver, porcelain and flowers around, embellishing, intermingling traditional and contemporary, searching for a harmony that lived up to her own perfectionism. At times she would choose her favourite 18th century Chantilly porcelain plates – even when there were children present – with delicate blue sprays, surrounding a centrepiece of fifteen to twenty Chinese tulip vases. There were never side plates or bread knives – it was a pared down aesthetic, not an excessive one. White Murano goblets and Georg Jensen contemporary silver pitchers would add sparkle and freshness; the result looked like a 16th century Dutch still life. At other events, the table would become a playful study in the juxtaposition of colour, using her gently multi coloured 50’s retro plates, Balinese silver rimmed lacquered bowls and glass tutti-frutti tumblers, made by the Rothschilds’ cousins, the Brandolinis, in Venice.
The drinks trays in all her houses will stay in my memory for many years to come. Victoria’s signature Baccarat decanters would stand proud; around them a cluster of delicate early 20th century glasses engraved with the Rothschild crest. Highly polished Elsa Peretti silver condiments and mother of pearl spoons would be ready for the preparation of cocktails and various delicacies like caviar and creme fraîche spread on toasted blinis.
This same inimitable style informed the way Victoria dressed; her simple elegant way of presenting herself, almost Japanese in its restraint, allowed her to wear Philip Treacy hats and trademark modernist necklaces; Angela Pintaldi and Jacqueline Ryan with her theme of lapis lazuli sticklets were amongst her favourites.
In many ways she was the forerunner of the new movement of luxury dining at home that has strengthened during Covid; dinner services, silver, table adornments are becoming more and more popular, and many young designers are turning their attention to tableware – Victoria’s delicate daring aesthetic has paved the way.
ABOUT US
Royal House Antiques is a privately owned family ran business founded in Wimbledon SW19 and now based in Pulborough RH20. We specialise in finding, restoring very fine luxury antique leather seating, along with every single other type of antique ranging from the 16th century to the 20th century. We also stock a number of designer brands such as Fritz Hansen, Ralph Lauren, Cavalli, Charles & Ray Eames, Vitra, David Linley, Rolex, Tiffany, Jager Le Coulter and so on
PAYMENTS
We accept payment via Bitcoin, Bitcoin cash, Ethereum, Bacs, Chaps, PayPal or Card, we would kindly ask that all items are paid for within 48 hours and collected within 7 working days, we can hold all paid items for 14 days free of charge, there after a £20 a week storage fee will apply. We have long term storage which is very economically priced, we are happy to hold stock for as long as needed providing it is arranged prior to the purchase
If sold items aren’t collected within three months and no arrangements have been made for long term storage you will forfeit the item and payment
CONDITION
Please view the very detailed pictures as they form part of the description pertaining to the condition. Please also ask any questions before you bid and not after, all of our items are sold as seen and as listed
Royal House Antiques cannot be held liable for any independent assumptions made regarding the items we sell, if you are unsure on any point, please feel free to ask for clarity
Please note vintage period and original items such as leather seating will always have natural patina in the form of creasing and wear, we recommend annual waxing to ensure no moisture is lost, also hand dyed leather is not recommended to sit in direct sunlight for prolonged periods of time as it will dry out and fade
DELIVERY OR COLLECTION
This item is available for collection from our Pulborough warehouses RH20-1DF by appointment only, alternatively we can have it delivered nationwide to include Scotland, Wales and Ireland for a fee
Please contact me via email, alternatively my contact information is under the business seller section of the listing, with your postcode for a delivery quotation, as mentioned above the fee listed covers with the M25 for the UK, for international deliveries the amount listed covers local Europe only so parts of Belgium and France
Please be sure to include which item you would like to buy as the price is determined on size and distance, if you would like more than one piece of furniture the courier offers a substantial discount on the second and third item, for international shipping please view the below information
COURIER, LARGE ITEMS ONLY THAT CAN’T BE POSTED
We can arrange delivery nationwide, mostly with our nominated couriers, for Europe we use one reasonably priced professional company that we trust, for the rest of the world we use international shippers that can send any size item crated via air freight within 7-14 days after crating or soft packed and container shipped via sea freight within 30-60 days. The time frames outlined are guides only, non-domestic shipping is almost entirely governed by the airlines, sea freight loading times and custom clearances
Whomever delivers will always require help on the larger items to unload, the price you will be quoted will always be based on this assumption, if this is not possible, please let us know as it will affect the price to send a two-person team
Delivery is to the ground floor only, again if you need help upstairs or in flats etc that’s absolutely not a problem, the couriers charge £10-£20 per flight per man per item, if you have a working elevator then naturally there’s no additional fee
All courier fees are paid by yourself directly to the courier company, the contract for delivery is between yourselves the client and whichever courier you chose from those available I’m happy to accommodate your own courier after a cleared payment has been received, they need to book in a collection time with at least 24 hours notice, all collections must be made within 14 working days of the close of the sale unless agreed by prior arrangement
IMPORT DUTY
Most countries charge some kind of import duty however almost all of our items won’t incur any charges as the items are exempt from tax due to the age and materials used
For European deliveries the price you will be quoted will include all clearance documentation and any customs charges so there won’t be any additional fees
For international deliveries such as the United States there can be some import duty to pay and or a clearance fee, I would estimate that 99% of all deliveries clear customs without being stopped for either
All duties are the responsibility of the purchaser who is the importer, they can’t be covered by the seller or shipping agent or factored in with additional retrospective discounts
RETURNS
Royal House Antiques offers a no quibble return policy if the item is not as described, if there are any issues with the piece you will be refunded in full once the item has been returned and inspected within 14 days, alternatively if there is a small issue, we can discuss finding a mutual resolution that makes all parties happy
We don’t offer a sale on approval service which means you can purchase the item, have it delivered and if you simply don’t like it, return it, this comes under change of mind or doesn’t fit. There is a lot of time, money and work involved in transporting goods around the world, the costs incurred can be vast so my advice would be if you are unsure on a piece please ask as many questions as you like to make sure you understand everything before you buy, if you are still unsure then please either arrange a viewing in person or if that’s not possible then don’t buy from an online retailer, perhaps look for a local gallery instead
