Over the past several decades, Patricia Rawlings has been renowned for many things but principally for being Patricia Rawlings.

This was probably pre-ordained. In youth, her glowing looks and perceptive mind attracted many Artists, notably Pietro Annigoni, whose famous portrait showed not only her burgeoning beauty but her innate intelligence, as well as sculptors and photographers - you can buy a greetings card (£4.00 including envelope) of Patricia in her debutante heyday photographed by Yevonde from the National Portrait Gallery and, of course, the Press. Her vivacity and stamina made her a leading light of that heady, postwar, generation. Eventually tiring of such acclaim, Patricia turned her skill and energy to more significant matters, initially as a feisty politician, fighting 2 seats in the Westminster Parliament and then winning a seat in the European Parliament where she created their extensive art collection, and ultimately being created Baroness Rawlings in the Lords.

The fact that she is on first-name terms with almost every politician and intellectual in the western world has not affected Patricia’s approachability and natural gaiety. Due to her fluency in many languages, museum curators, actors, musicians and, especially, artists - some of whom she sponsors - seek Patricia’s company, advice, erudition and humour, let alone her legendarily scrumptious food.

Following the death of her father, from whom she inherited much of that humour, and a marriage that yielded no children, Patricia’s London base has been with her mother, whose fragile loveliness masked a knack of swiftly demolishing her opponents bridge hands, on Eaton Square. This apartment was decorated for the Rawlings by the designer John Siddeley in the 1960s and subsequently by Tom Parr from Colefax & Fowler. It was, and remained, the apogee of a then-modern, faintly-baroque, taste and style. Its many rooms housed a trove of desirable objets, pictures, furniture, and bibelots. Much has been added by Patricia over the years, as with her astute eye she can pick the best in any gallery, or wander into any brocante from Redruth to Rome and spot the rare, the amusing, or the just plain useful.

Now, even she recognizes there is no space for more, not everything can fit into a fresh setting, and she certainly can’t cram another thing into that charming house in Norfolk. But wherever her possessions enhance their new surroundings, they will always retain the allure, evoke the renown - the unique 'Patricianess' - of their assembler, Patricia Rawlings.

Auction Highlights

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Auction Details

Wednesday 22 January 2025, 10.30am GMT
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

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VIEWING:

• Viewing in London (highlights): 16-17 Pall Mall, SW1Y 5LU
  • Tuesday 7 January: 10am-4pm
  • Wednesday 8 January: 10am-4pm
  • Thursday 9 January: 10am-4pm
  • Friday 10 January: 10am-4pm
• Viewing in Newbury (full sale): Donnington Priory, RG14 2JE
  • Sunday 19 January: 10am-3pm
  • Monday 20 January: 10am-4pm
  • Tuesday 21 January: 10am-4pm
  • Wednesday 22 January: 9am-1pm
• Dreweatts 360 Virtual Auction Tour | Available from Sunday 19 January
• Dreweatts Remote Viewing Service | Available from Sunday 19 January