You can see from the lots listed in the original catalogue (use the links to the right and the lots will come up in another window) how diverse and strange the original collection was, I think that much of this diversity was also reflected in the new commissions.

Working in collaboration with Frank Priest (who runs the art department at the Kimbolton school) we spent a long time researching the original sale and collection. His research resulted in 'borrowing back' major works from collections around the country which were shown alongside the new commissions. These included paintings by: Mary Beale, Thomas Hudson, Charles Jervas, Cornelius Johnson, William Jones, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Sir Peter Lely, Raphael Mengs, Antonio Pellegrini, Henry William Pickersgill, Enoch Seeman, Andrea Soldi, William Wissing, Johann Zoffany.

Auctions of this kind bring together an emotive mixture of eclectic content, jumbled aesthetics (some can seem like a cross between a National Trust property visit and a car boot sale) confused social etiquette, and a bizarre ritualised bidding system. There is something intrinsically fascinating (and often at heart rather sad) about them. A life of collecting and living with objects, with art, with furniture and personal possessions is suddenly reduced to a list, a catalogue of numbers and details which is, for the viewer, almost impossible to resist.
The catalogue in question here dates from 1949, most of the items are now missing from a castle that hasn't been a 'house' in the true sense for many years, and yet the list is still highly evocative.
I became fascinated by the original sale, by the sheer scale of the list, the bizarre juxtaposition of domestic objects and famous paintings, the 'fabulously low' prices, the original buyers and the current whereabouts of the objects. I think some of this fascination with the original list and the intense atmosphere of a sale came across at the contemporary live art event.

Nina Pope July 2001

The New Catalogue
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The Original Sale Catalogue:

Order of Sale & Notes

Day One - 18th of July 1949

Pictures ... lots 1 - 247
Books ... lots 248 - 307

Day Two - 19th of July 1949

Furniture ... lots 308-609

Day Three - 20th of July 1949

Furniture ... lots 610 - 787
Silver ... lots 788 - 824
Plated Ware ... lots 825 - 846
Carpets ... lots 847 - 885
Glass ... lots 886 - 901
Laundry ... lots 902 - 917

Day Four - 21st of July 1949

Ornamental Items ... lots 918 - 997
China & Misc ... lots 998 - 1081
Linens etc ... lots 1082 - 1197
Basement Effects ... lots 1198 - 1248