Auction Results | Robert Kime: The Personal Collection

"I don't know how you describe romance actually... but some objects have it, they just have something that is more than themselves. If you're interested in them you can communicate it and they can communicate it too, and it's just magic, it's just how life is."

~ Robert Kime

From Wednesday 4 - Friday 6 October, Dreweatts had the great honour of holding the landmark auction Robert Kime: The Personal Collection, offering the contents of Robert's homes in London and Provence. Known the world over as a titan of design and the ‘great assembler’ of beautiful things, Robert Kime’s unique eye and aesthetic sensibility led him to become one of the leading design figures of his generation. This auction gave collector's, old and new, the opportunity to own the beautiful things which Robert amassed over his lifetime.

After much anticipation and global interest the auction saw competitive and enthusiastic bidding, making for a thrilling three-day auction. Totalling around 25 hours of bidding, with thousands of bidders taking part from around the world, the auction achieved £9.64 million (including buyer's premium), with a 100% sell-through rate, making it another white glove event!

Robert Kime | © Kime Family Archive

Commenting on the auction, Head of Sale, Joe Robinson said, "The results of the auction of Robert Kime’s personal collection show the widespread admiration for him as a true aesthete. The ‘titan of design’s collection was a testimony to his passion for collecting rare works with exceptional provenance and pieces that he truly cherished. His talent for adding depth to an interior to create a room was an unparalleled skill and was the impetus behind the competitive bidding from around the world to obtain a piece from one of the leading design figures of his generation.”

Will Richards, Deputy Chairman said, "Dreweatts are delighted that the sale of Robert Kime's personal collection has been so well received by collectors and buyers from around the world. In many ways this sale was a biography of Robert Kime through his collecting and his interests. His unparalleled eye and the respect in which he was held have been recognised in this landmark sale."

We would like to thank all who have so kindly contributed, supported, visited, viewed and bid to help make this once-in-a-lifetime auction of Robert Kime: The Personal Collection so exceptionally special - not least our sincere gratitude to the much missed Robert, to his friends and to his family. It's been our honour and privilege.

Auction Highlights

Lot 50: English School (Early 17th Century), ‘Portrait of a man with a pickaxe and a spade in a landscape’, Oil on panel | Sold for £500,200

Inline Image - Lot 6: After the Antique, a carved marble grand tour figure of The Ephesian Artemis possibly Italian or French, 19th century | Sold for £187,700

Lot 6: After the Antique, a carved marble grand tour figure of The Ephesian Artemis possibly Italian or French, 19th century | Sold for £187,700

Lot 58: Eric Ravilious (British 1903-1942), ‘New Year Snow’, Watercolour and pencil | Sold for £350,200

Lot 280: A late Victorian walnut and red leather armchair by Howard & Sons, late 19th/early 20th century | Sold for £52,700

Lot 102: λ Duncan Grant (British 1885-1978), A painted table | Sold for £81,450

Lot 411: A Caucasian dragon fragmentary carpet 17th century | Sold for £93,950

Inline Image - Lot 413: A monumental pair of 'Irish elk' or giant deer antlers (Megaloceros Giganteus) in part Pleistocene period, circa 10,500BC to 8,000BC, and later | Sold for £93,950

Lot 413: A monumental pair of 'Irish elk' or giant deer antlers (Megaloceros Giganteus) in part Pleistocene period, circa 10,500BC to 8,000BC, and later | Sold for £93,950