Stepping over the threshold into Peter Hone’s London home is an unforgettable experience; a sensory over load of the most delightful sort; inside is a curated wonderland interior as enchanting and extraordinary as the man himself.
Peter has lived in his Notting Hill flat since the 1960s. He is a man of many stories, and the next chapter of his life will be in Penzance, where he will relocate to after selling the remarkable contents of his London abode: all the ancient architectural fragments, classical busts, urns, marbles and curios, and perhaps most wondrous of all, Peter’s beautiful plaster reliefs, which adorn almost every available wall.
Peter’s interest in plasterwork developed during his 15 years at Clifton Nurseries in Little Venice, where he managed an architectural antiques shop for Lord Jacob Rothschild. This is where Hone ‘honed in’ on plaster, as he likes to joke. But don’t be fooled by this insouciance, he is a Master plaster caster, widely regarded as skilled as Brucciani, the great Victorian plaster master.
His desire to remake his home afresh with his own creations, led to a now legendary sale with Christie’s in 2016.
Re-creation and renewal seem to be recurrent themes for Peter, his life imitating art and he now wishes to wipe the slate clean once again, and so, quite literally, everything must go.
It is our immense privilege to be hosting this auction, and we will be selling everything, from the tiniest bone-china eggcup to his canopied four-poster bed. Peter’s exquisite interior aesthetic makes the mundane seem sublime, and although his large classical plaster reliefs are undoubted show-stoppers, we fully expect devotees of the ‘Hone look’ to clamour for his charming utilitarian kitchen items as much as his magnificent busts and elegant urns.
It is a unique sale, a phenomenal collection from a unique individual.
This auction took place on 12 Oct 2023 in Penzance, Cornwall & Online, with viewings and collections conducted from Notting Hill, London.
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