Christie's has announced it will offer the collection of legendary designer Michael Inchbald, who died earlier this year, in a dedicated sale on January 22 in London, highlighted by a pair of Roman marble busts.
 The busts were created in the 17th century after the Roman originals |
Some 250 lots of antiquities, furniture, old master paintings and an array of decorative arts will be offered with an overall estimate of £1.2m ($1.9m). The busts are the highest valued items in the sale, estimated at £100,000-150,000 ($163,882-$245,823).
The pair depict the Emperor Augustus and Empress Faustina the Younger, and were formerly part of the Collection of the 9th Duke of Roxburghe. They were created in the 17th century, after Roman designs.
 Inchbald's Stanley House is filled with his interior design, which fuses modern and neoclassical styles |
Michael Inchbald (1920-2013) was at the forefront of British interior design, having worked on the Savoy and Berkeley hotels and on the main first-class saloon of the ocean liner QE2. He was also consulted on the redecoration of Buckingham Palace.
His house, Stanley House in Chelsea, London, is testament to his impeccable taste and eye for design, merging neoclassical ideas with the modern.
Inchbald's collection is highlighted by a strong selection of antiquities, including a Roman torso of Hercules created circa the 1st-2nd century AD, which is valued at £40,000-60,000 ($65,552-98,329).
Sharing this estimate is an Egyptian limestone head from a sarcophagus lid, which dates from the Late period to the Ptolemaic (4th-3rd century BC).
 The candelabra are typical of Thomire's fine work |
Leading the fine selection of furniture offered in the sale is a pair of Empire ormolu, patinated bronze and black fossil marble candelabra, which have been attributed to Pierre Philippe Thomire - a prominent French sculptor and bronzier. Created circa 1802, they will sell with a £70,000-100,000 ($114,717-163,882) estimate.
Paul Fraser Collectibles has a magnificent selection of fine English furniture for sale.
