Furniture, Works of Art & Clocks

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We are delighted to be presenting 'Kenneth Neame: An Enduring Legacy' in Day 1 of our October Furniture sale. After seven decades of decorating and acquiring antiques for his glittering array of clients, Kenneth has now closed his London business and we are honoured to be selling a selection of his remaining stock and items from his London home in Cadogan Square. This sale marks the culmination of an illustrious career and includes elegant English and European furniture, accompanied by Regency porcelains, japanned tables and of course a nod to the exotic and China is never far away with Chinese School watercolours and porcelains included in the sale. 

Kenneth Neame began his career as an antique dealer after studying architecture at Cambridge.  His first shop was housed in Handel's House in Brook Street, Mayfair.  It soon became the destination for discerning clients staying at Claridge’s from around the world. After over 30 years in Handel's House the business relocated to Mount Street in 1990.

Kennet's  client list inevitably reads like a Who's Who of British aristocracy, European and Middle Eastern royalty, Hollywood Actors and Greek shipping magnates.  He has acquired antiques for both the 2nd and 4th Viscount Rothermere, working at Daylesford and Warwick House. Baroness Thatcher, Gianni Versace, Brook Astor, Bunny Mellon, Daisy Fellowes, HRH Princess Soraya, Pamela Harriman, Vivian Leigh, Ralph Richardson, Margaret Leighton, Madam Rochas, Estée Lauder, Helena Rubenstein and Rudolf Nureyev were all clients.  A longstanding collector recounts a visit to Kenneth's shop in Brook Street where an outstanding bed was positioned in the window complete with an elegant Nureyev sprawled across the silk covers.  Nureyev was of course trying it for size.

Kenneth's conversation is peppered with fascinating anecdotes.  They are not boasts but the day to day reality of dealing in such a fascinating world of extraordinary antiques and the clients who bought them. Many of Kenneth's clients became life long trusted friends.  When one decorates such intimate spaces it is inevitable that a strong bond develops between client and dealer.  Whether a project was a grand house, an intimate chalet, yacht or private aircraft, the level of  professionalism and flair remain a constant hallmark of the Neame style.  Further evidence of the trust and regard in which he is held is evident in the acquiring and reacquiring of antiques from clients throughout subsequent generations.