LONDON.- Stanley J. Seeger (1930-2011) was one of the greatest post-war collectors of our time. Together with his partner of 32 years, Christopher Cone, the pair created a series of truly unique homes in England and around the world, where the sheer joy of their collecting was very much in evidence. This passion resulted in the accrual of a very special collection and a number of momentous sales at auction. On 30 October, more than 200 items from the extraordinary collection they housed in an idyllic property deep in the British countryside will be offered for sale at Sotheby’s in London, under the title A Private View: Property from the Country Home of Christopher Cone and Stanley J. Seeger. The forthcoming sale features pieces which held poignant significance for both Cone and Seeger, who lovingly cherished them through the years.

Packed with delights, the sale’s encyclopaedic content is drawn from across 30 different collecting categories and ranges in date from the 5th century A.D. to the second half of the 20th century. Creators as diverse as Fabergé and Picasso are set to jostle with objects which carry exceptional provenances, from Edward, Prince of Wales and Lord Byron to Marilyn Monroe. A snapshot of the collection might include a small Henry Moore bronze alongside medieval silver spoons and fine 13th-century illuminated manuscripts, an exquisite dug-out canoe from Kerala juxtaposed with a rare and early portable china and copper loo, or an 18thcentury English cricket table next to a rare Tibetan chequered carpet, set against a Kandinsky print. Defined by its modesty, not only through the large number of small-scale objects in the sale, but also by the unassuming way in which it was assembled, the collection is marked by Seeger and Cone’s inquisitive spirit. With estimates starting at £100 and climbing to £40,000 for a collage by Ben Nicholson, the sale is expected to bring in the region of £1 million.

David Macdonald, Sotheby’s specialist in charge of the sale, said: “This collection enthrals, amuses and ultimately celebrates the taste of two men who hold a unique place in the landscape of British collecting. They shared a love of music, literature, flora and fauna, British folk art and post-war art, and many of the items in the sale reflect their mutual passions, their sense of humour and their utter joy in things which became part of their everyday life. What comes through is the sheer pleasure in collecting. I defy anyone not to find one thing that they absolutely love.”

CHRISTOPHER CONE AND STANLEY SEEGER
Christopher Cone was introduced to Stanley Seeger by the artist John Craxton in 1979 and immediately recognised that he was a collector of a very special kind. Meeting Cone coincided with the purchase of Sutton Place – previously owned by the American oil baron J. Paul Getty – where the couple lived for several years. After moving to and from the many houses they shared together over three decades, Cone came to find out that Seeger had a great skill in creating an atmosphere, but above all else, in creating comfortable homes where they could indulge their love of collecting.

Through putting together these homes they could also indulge, through their decoration, in storytelling, furnishing rooms in a way that had a narrative. Seemingly disparate, everything they collected was chosen with a particular rationale in mind, but always with a sense of fun. They might have a Drawing Room which represented an era of the house’s history, a bedroom in an earlier part of the house which had oak furniture, a writing room, or even a room that a sea captain may have inhabited.

Recollecting the fun that he and Seeger had in creating homes and furnishing them, Christopher Cone said: “Stanley and I lived wonderful dreams together. It’s nice to have the chance to have found and lived with these things and now to share them with anyone who cares to dig in and discover something special for themselves.”

‘A PRIVATE VIEW’
A Private View follows an extraordinary series of sales at Sotheby’s, beginning in 1993 in New York with the famous auction of 88 Picassos, through The Eye of the Collector in 2001, to 1000 Ways of Seeing: The Private Collection of the late Stanley J. Seeger in 2014. Characterised by a distinctly personal and intimate note, this sale is a touching commemoration of the life Seeger and Cone spent together.

SELECTION OF OBJECTS FROM A PRIVATE VIEW
Stanley Seeger’s personal piano
This Steinway ‘Victory’ piano played a very special role in World War II. It was specially designed to be parachuted to American troops fighting on the front. Estimate £800-1,200

A very rare gold plated typewriter
‘The Golden Royal Portable’ was acquired by Seeger at the time it was made around 1950. James Bond creator Ian Fleming also owned an example, which appears in many of the photographs showing the author working at his Goldeneye home in Jamaica. Estimate £800-1,200

Marilyn Monroe’s wicker picnic basket
Acquired by Cone as a present for Seeger from the sale of Monroe’s effects in 1999. Estimate £600-800

Lord Byron’s snuff box
Inscribed ‘Byron’, this snuff box came from the literary giant’s family and then presumably to the poet himself. Such an object reflects Seeger and Cone’s delight in items with historical resonance. Estimate £1,500-2,000

An extremely rare Kerala dug-out canoe
Originally from the collection of legendary art dealer and collector David Sylvester. Seeger commissioned special bespoke leather supports made by a saddler so that it could be hung from the roof of their home. Estimate £10,000-15,000

Two 13th-century miniatures from the Bestiaire d’amour of Richard de Fournival (1201–1259/60) depicting birds
Seeger was a great bibliophile and his library contained works up to the 20th century. This example is amongst the earliest. Estimate £10,000-15,000

A Victorian silver novelty condiment pot in the form of an owl with a spoon in the form of a mouse
This delightful object celebrates a sense of fun and perfectly captures the whimsical nature of the collection. £800-1,200

Attributed to Leonhard Kern, A carved fruitwood figure of Adam, circa 1630-40
The powerful anatomy of this figure of Adam is characteristic of Leonhard Kern, one of the foremost carvers of small-scale sculpture in 17th-century Germany. Having spent time in Italy, Kern was among the first German sculptors to model nudes from life. Estimate £30,000-50,000

David Vinckboons, The Hurdy-Gurdy Player, early 17th century
This charming oil on panel is a work of great joy and illustrates a love for painting from all periods and outside the post war period usually associated with Seeger. Estimate £20,000-30,000

MODERN AND POST-WAR BRITISH ART
At the heart of the collection is a selection of works by 20th-century British artists. Cone had a keen eye for collecting modern British works, and encouraged a burgeoning interest in Seeger who was already a great friend of the late Peter Lanyon and John Craxton. In the 1950s – before he and Cone met – Seeger became friends with Catherine Viviano, whose gallery played an important role in promoting contemporary British art in the U.S. Through Catherine, he met Lanyon and commissioned from the artist a 30-foot mural for his farmhouse in Frenchtown, New Jersey.

Peter Lanyon, Untitled – Sketch for Mural
Estimate £10,000-15,000
This jewel-like sketch was a study for the 30 ft mural which Lanyon produced for Seeger’s Bois d’Arc home in Frenchtown, New Jersey. The long horizontal composition is intended to be reflective of the experience of looking out at a real horizon, inspired by St Ives and the Porthmeor beach. Lanyon has transported his Cornish landscape to New Jersey.

Peter Lanyon, Anti-Body
Estimate £10,000-15,000
This charming small scale work is typical of Lanyon’s work of the 1960s, deriving its confident, sweeping brushstrokes from the time the artist spent gliding over the Cornish coast.

John Craxton, Goat, Sailor and Asphodels
Estimate £30,000-50,000
Craxton painted this work whilst resident in Greece, and it is one of a number of excellent works by the artist in the collection.

Ben Nicholson, Collage, 1942
Estimate £40,000-60,000
Produced from the remains of a telegram sent to his second wife, Barbara Hepworth, this work is a delightful snapshot into their correspondence, refashioned into the abstraction typical of Nicholson’s work of this period.

Henry Moore, Stringed Object
Estimate £12,000-18,000
Conceived in 1938 this early work forms part of an important period of work for Moore, just before the War, focusing on the use of string to delineate negative space in contrast to the solidity of the carved and cast forms.