'Lady Bullough's' Brooch
Lot 1088 in our 11th September Fine Art & Antiques auction is this stunning 18ct gold, sapphire and diamond enamel brooch, which was apparently gifted to a lady's maid from Lady Monica Lilly Bullough of Kinloch Castle, Rhum.
The 18th gold, sapphire and diamond enamel brooch, comprises an oval panel in red guilloche enamel within a white enamel belt inscribed 'Dieu et Mon Droit', with an articulated monogram suspended below set with 27 vari-sized Old European cut diamonds.
The vendor states that this brooch previously belonged to Lady Monica Lilly Bullough (1869-1967), whose husband Sir George Bullough owned the Isle of Rum in Scotland and built Kinloch Castle.
George Bullough also established Longholes Stud at Warren Hill in Newmarket in the 1920s, while Lady Monica and sir George lived at Warren Hill until her death in 1967, and from whence the brooch apparently passed into the vendor's family. According to the vendor's family history, the brooch was gifted to the vendor's aunt, Lady Bullough's lady's maid who, along with her butler/chauffeur husband, accompanied Lady Bullough to Scotland every summer until the late 1950s.
Lady Monica may be wearing this brooch in a portrait taken in 1909 by Hugh Goldwin Rivière (although it is not an exact depiction if so); this portrait still resides in Kinloch Castle and can be seen on the Art Treasures of Kinloch Castle blog.
Close-up image of the brooch in the portrait kindly provided by George Randall, Co-founder of the Kinloch Castle Friends Association and author of the Art Treasures of Kinloch Castle blog.
The 350 lot Fine Art & Antiques auction also includes antiquarian books, fine English, Continental & Oriental ceramics, period glass, silverware, fine jewellery & watches, paintings and sculpture, Asian works of art, clocks & barometers, and fine furniture & furnishings.
The full catalogue can be seen here.
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