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Contents
Of Oscar Wilde’s Favorite Haunt - The Café Royal - To Sell At Bonhams
http://www.bonhams.com/knightsbridgefurniture
FREQUENTED BY ROYALTY, HOLLYWOOD, POLITICIANS AND BOHEMIA
A playground for the rich and famous, The Café Royal has been the hub of
glamour and scandal for decades. Generations of the world’s most celebrated
and notorious film stars, writers, artists, politicians and royals have celebrated
at the Café Royal making it not only a London landmark but also the setting
for many dramas.
Bonhams is delighted to announce that it has been appointed to sell selected contents
from the Café Royal, London. Over 120 lots from this historic establishment
will go under the hammer on Tuesday 20 January 2009 at Bonhams Knightsbridge salerooms.
Established in 1865, patrons of the Café Royal over the years include Oscar
Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, Noel Coward, Sir Winston Churchill, Cary Grant, Brigitte
Bardot, Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Diana, Mick Jagger, Margaret Thatcher, Virginia
Woolf, Muhammad Ali and Yul Brynner.
The doors to the Café Royal will close forever on Monday 22nd December
2008 following confirmation that the Crown Estate is to redevelop the lower end
of Regent Street. Viewing for the sale will take place before Christmas at the
Café Royal on Sunday 21 December and Monday 22 December 2008.
The sale includes a wide range of items from the Café Royal, from humidors
and brandy caskets from its legendary cellars to the opulent Venetian chandeliers
which hang in the Napoleon suite. Also included is the Café Royal’s
original boxing ring, which has been used at many of the black tie boxing events
held over the years.
Charlie Thomas, Head of Knightsbridge Furniture, says “Building on the success
of the Savoy sale last year Bonhams is delighted to be selling the contents of
the Café Royal. Bidders will have the opportunity to acquire a small piece
of this iconic London institution”.
The Wilde days of the Café Royal
To the Bohemians of Victorian England the Café Royal was an oasis of French
charm. As such it was a firm favourite with Oscar Wilde and his friends. The Café
Royal formed the backdrop to some of the most dramatic events in Wilde’s
life including his decision to sue the Marquis of Queensberry.
Absinthe was often Oscar’s drink of choice and he describes one evening
sitting alone in the Café Royal drinking when he started to hallucinate.
Oscar thought that the waiter, who was stacking chairs, was in fact watering the
floor, covered in tulips, with a watering can.
Oscar often entertained guests at the Café Royal including his lover “Bosie”,
Lord Alfred Douglas. Bosie’s father, the Marquis of Queensberry, a notorious
brute, abhorred his son’s relationship with Oscar. The only amiable meeting
between Wilde and Queensberry took place in 1893 at the Café Royal over
lunch. The Marquis was charmed by Oscar despite himself and was temporarily won
over.
The truce was momentary however, and after Queensberry left his misspelt calling
card at Wilde’s club -” for Oscar Wilde posing as a somdomite”
- Wilde decided to launch a libel case against him. When Wilde met his friends
George Bernard Shaw and Frank Harris at the Café Royal, they desperately
tried to persuade Oscar not to go to court. Oscar stormed out of the Café
Royal and never set foot inside again.
Salacious details of Wilde’s private life entered the public arena during
the trial and he was later convicted of gross indecency and sentenced to two years
hard labour. His time in prison broke his health and he died three years after
his release.
If walls could talk…
Ø The Café Royal was established in 1865 by Parisian wine merchant
Daniel Nicolas who was on the run from a prison sentence imposed for bankruptcy
in France. He arrived with only £5 in his pocket and no knowledge of the
English language.
Ø The Café Royal is the spiritual home of black tie dinner boxing
in the UK. The original National Sporting Club founders, the Earl of Lonsdale
and the fifth Marquis of Queensberry, who were keen patrons of the Café
Royal, created the world famous Queensbury rules for boxing. The National Sporting
Club’s boxing activities found a permanent home at the Café Royal
in 1955.
Ø In 1894 the Café Royal was the scene of an infamous murder. The
night porter Marius Martin was found with two bullets in his head, the murder
was never solved.
Ø The Café was frequented by Edward VIII and George VI in the early
part of the 20th Century. An entry in the waiter’s instruction book ran:
“Prince of Wales, Duke of York lunch frequently. Always plain food. No fuss”.
Ø Winston Churchill and Rufus Isaacs dined at the Café Royal for
several nights awaiting a call from the new Prime Minister Sir Henry Campell-Bannerman
who took office after Balfour resigned in December 1905.
Ø In 1922 the Café Royal was demolished and rebuilt to conform to
other buildings in the Regent Street quadrant. “They might as well have
old us,” wrote TWH Crossland, “that the British Empire is to be pulled
down and redecorated.”
Ø The Café Royal has been painted and sketched by Aubrey Bearsley,
Walter Sickert, Sir John Lavery and Laura Knight.
Ø Gordon Ramsey held his wedding reception at the Café Royal.
Star lots for sale include:
Ø A mid 20th Century full size boxing ring, estimated at £4,000-6,000
Ø A large early 20th Century Venetian clear glass and gilt decorated twenty-light
chandelier, estimated at £5,000-8,000
Ø An early 20th Century mahogany quarter chiming longcase clock, estimated
at £4,000-6,000
Ø A William IV rosewood breakfast table, estimated at £1,000-1,500
Ø A large collection of photographic reproductions depicting various personalities
who frequented the Café Royal, including Oscar Wilde, Winston Churchill,
Vivien Leigh, Rudyard Kipling, estimated at £200-300
Ø A pair of late 19th /early 20th Century white painted carved wood and
composition pier mirrors, estimated at £3,000-4,000
Viewing at the Café Royal will take place on Sunday 21 December 2008 9am-12pm
Monday 22 December 2008 9am-9pm
For more information on the sale please visit the website at www.bonhams.com/knightsbridgefurniture
Further
information and images Charlotte Wood +44 (0) 207 4688331 or email press@bonhams.com
NOTES FOR EDITORS
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers
of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November
2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the
company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast
of America and in August 2003, Goodmans, a leading Australian fine art and antiques
auctioneer with salerooms in Sydney, joined the Bonhams Group of Companies. Today,
Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms
in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further seven throughout
the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston
in the USA; and Switzerland, France, Monaco, Australia, Hong Kong and Dubai. Bonhams
has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries
offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. For a full
listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go
to www.bonhams.com. (1st January 2008)
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