From Alfred de Rothschild (1842-1918) at Halton House, Lionel de Rothschild (1882-1942), Edmund de Rothschild (1916-2009) at Exbury House, Hampshire. Lot 39. A very rare façon de Venise carafe or ewer for the Austrian market c.1560-90. Estimate: £2,000 - £3,000. Sold for £14,000. Photo: Courtesy of Woolley & Wallis.

SALISBURY.- Woolley & Wallis have proved that the Rothschild name still holds extraordinary cachet as the first sale of lots from Exbury House smashed estimates to sell for tens of thousands of pounds.

The June 17 auction of Venetian glass and European Ceramics in Salisbury included select items from Exbury, a seat of the Rothschilds since 1919.

Leading the way among the Rothschild lots was a very rare c.1560-90 Italian façon de Venise carafe or ewer that would have been made for the Austrian market. Estimated at £2,000-3,000, it sold for £14,000.

A 17th/18th century façon de Venise winged goblet, from Venice or the Low Countries, had a guide of just £600-800, but sailed to £8,500, while an Italian façon de Venise flacon and cover with matching 17th/18th century tazza pitched at £1,000-2,000 went for £5,500.

From Lionel de Rothschild (1882-1942), Edmund de Rothschild (1916-2009) at Exbury House, Hampshire. Lot 41. A façon de Venise winged goblet, 17th/18th century. Estimate: £600 - £800. Sold for £8,500. Photo: Courtesy of Woolley & Wallis.

From Lionel de Rothschild (1882-1942), Edmund de Rothschild (1916-2009) at Exbury House, Hampshire. Lot 42. A façon de Venise glass flacon and cover and matching tazza, 17th-18th century. Estimate: £1,000 - £2,000. Sold for £5,500. Photo: Courtesy of Woolley & Wallis.

Hitting ten times its top estimate at £3,000 was a 17th century or later Venetian Chalcedony footed bowl. A pair of c.1770 Staffordshire enamel candlesticks that had been expected to sell for £400-600 took £2,200, while a set of four large Royal Worcester figures of the Season, carrying hopes of £600-800, made £1,600. 

From Lionel de Rothschild (1882-1942), Edmund de Rothschild (1916-2009) at Exbury House, Hampshire. Lot 43. A Venetian Chalcedony footed bowl, 17th-18th century. Estimate: £100 - £200. Sold for £3,000. Photo: Courtesy of Woolley & Wallis.

From Edmund de Rothschild (1916-2009) at Exbury House, Hampshire. Lot 44. A pair of Staffordshire enamel candlesticks, c.1770. Estimate: £400 - £600. Sold for £2,200. Photo: Courtesy of Woolley & Wallis.

From Edmund de Rothschild (1916-2009) at Exbury House, Hampshire. Lot 51. A set of four large Royal Worcester figures of the Seasons, c.1968. Estimate: £600 - £800. Sold for £1,600. Photo: Courtesy of Woolley & Wallis.

“Whilst we noticed a general buoyancy in the market throughout the sale, there is no doubt that the Rothschild provenance helped these pieces to achieve such strong results,” said specialist Clare Durham, head of Woolley & Wallis’s European Ceramics department.

“The blue glass ewer is an exceptional piece, with only a few examples known, but the decoration is far from typical for Venetian glass. Yesterday’s auction, our first in three months, provided real reassurance that the market is still there for pieces of quality and distinction, and it gives us great hopes for the forthcoming sales, many of which feature pieces with the same provenance.”

All the pieces had come from Exbury House, a grand property set in acres of exceptional gardens at the south eastern edge of the New Forest in Hampshire.

Previously the estate of the historian William Mitford and then Lord Forster, a one-time Governor-General of Australia, by the time Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1882-1942) acquired Exbury, the 18th century house was all but derelict, and he had it remodelled in the late 1920s.

It was the gardens that were Lionel’s true passion, as their unique micro-climate rendered them particularly suitable for the planting of rare rhododendrons, camelias and azaleas from Asia. Here he created an inimitable garden, employing 250 men to clear out the woodland so that it could be laid out, while installing an intricate irrigation system involving 22 miles of underground piping.

If the garden was a triumph, the house was more unfortunate. Barely a decade after Lionel had refashioned it to his liking, war broke out. Just over two years later he died and four months after that the Admiralty requisitioned the house, giving the family no more than 48 hours to clear their possessions and themselves out.