My maternal grandparents, Willie and Syrie Maugham, cast a long shadow over their descendants. Syrie was great fun, and I adored her. I looked forward to the weekly afternoons that I spent with her at 24 Park Lane, where Hilton Hotel stands today. I loved the colours of the flat that was to be her final home: the Schiaparelli pink hallway leading into the exquisite pale blue and white drawing room with its glorious views over Hyde Park, and her pretty white bedroom, where she often held court. The flat was a treasure trove to be explored. There were Indian chests containing lengths of beautiful silks and brocades and an endless assortment of passementerie, tassels, trimmings and silken cords left over from her once famous decorating shops. The cupboards were full of bibelots and , if I had been well behaved and merited spoiling, I went home with some small trophy, a scrap of sumptuous fabric, a tiny ivory rabbit, a pair of miniature bronze - or a carved, shiny brass acorn from a curtain pull that my grandmother might produce from one of her many secret drawers in her elegant painted desk.

I still remember the exquisite flowers carefully placed to produce maximum effect in the remarkable collection of vases great and small that she accumulated over the years. She always looked immaculate, wearing what she gaily referred to as “my uniform”, which consisted of beautifully cut black silk dresses enlivened by a pretty silk flower or a dashing brooch and always her wonderful ropes of pearls. She loved wearing hats, and they suited her well, lending to a distinguished air that complimented her twinkling eyes and diverted attention from her, by then, rounded figure.

Her faithful housekeeper for over 40 years, aptly named Doris Tasse, would entertain me with stories of adventures in New York, Chicago, and Paris or on their travels from Mexico - where Syrie became friends with Diego Rivera - to India, where she was received in Princely style.

Syrie Maugham’s enormous enthusiasm for change and innovation made her one of the defining decorators of the 20^th century. Like Elsie de Wolfe in America, she swept away the dark, stuffy, cluttered rooms that were the legacy of the Victorians and brought light and colour and understated chic into the many houses she decorated. Her famous much written about “white room” launched a craze for painting and pickling furniture, and she had a spectacular eye for the painters and artisans who were contemporaries. The work of the talent that she enlisted is impressive, from the rugs of Marion Dorn to the painting of Rex Whistler and Glyn Philpot to the designs of Oliver Messel and Cecil Beaton to the Jewellery of Jean Schlumberger; all of these artists were her friends.

She was above all a bon vivant, always excited by new ideas, dashing and entrepreneurial, making and losing money (she was annihilated in the crash of 1929), opening shops on both sides of the Atlantic, giving glamorous parties, and leaving her stamp on whatever projects she embarked upon. Her immense talent made her one of the most influential decorators of all time.

View page turning catalogue

Auction Details

Auction: 
Tuesday 28 October 2025 | 2pm GMT
Dreweatts, Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE, UK

Bidding is available in person at our salerooms, online, by telephone or you can leave commission (absentee) bids.

Browse the auction
Sign up to email alerts

Viewing:

• Viewing at Dreweatts London (highlights): 16-17 Pall Mall, SW1Y 5LU
  • Tuesday 7 October: 10am - 4pm
  • Wednesday 8 October: 10am - 4pm
  • Thursday 9 October: 10am - 4pm
• Viewing at Dreweatts Newbury (full sale): Donnington Priory, RG14 2JE
  • Friday 24 October: 10am-4pm
    
  • Sunday 26 October: 10am-3pm
  • Monday 27 October: 10am-4pm
  • Tuesday 28 October: 10am-2pm

Further information:
General enquiries: +44 (0) 1635 553 553 | housesales@dreweatts.com
Press enquiries: press@dreweatts.com