Tatler UK - 10.2019

PHOTOGRAPHS: ALAMY; GETTY IMAGES

an apartment in Paris to be near a

lover – it was Tamara de Lempicka’s

old studio, and I hung it with fake

Lempickas. So when I sold it, I took

some of its original art deco furniture,

designed by Robert Mallet-Stevens.

But I haven’t seen that for about six

years. And then you have to add the

contents of one of my old places

in LA, which was by the modernist

Hal Levitt...

‘So my friend Kay Saatchi – she’s

very practical – said: “You need to

sift your collection occasionally. Why

not have a sale?” And Thomas Keane

of The Swan at Tetsworth was so

enthusiastic, he was irresistible – he

loves that it’s all so eclectic. He says

the Chinese will go crazy for my Saint

Laurent dresses, but I’m putting about

450 pieces in – McQueen, Dolce,

Valentino, Chloé, Versace – most of

them are hardly worn.

‘The same with my shoes – there

are 250 pairs in the sale – the Manolos,

Guccis and Puccis can all go. I’ll keep

my YSLs – I might need them to run

‘DARLING, YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

Before I divorced in 2007, we had

six floors in Chester Square. Now

my current house must be the pret-

tiest in Cheyne Walk, but there’s so

much stuff in here, it’s like an obstacle

course. The saleroom has started tak-

ing things away, and I can’t even tell

the difference.

‘Look at that baby elephant with

a giant orchid growing from its back

by Marc Quinn, which I bought at

one of Mark Shand’s charity auctions.

That’ll probably be the most expen-

sive lot. But what was I thinking? It’s

life-size! Then I bought a tuk-tuk

decorated by Nicky Haslam, who did

this place up for me. It’s never even

been out of storage. God, storage.

After my marriage ended, I bought

of the Seven Deadly Sins. They were

based on drawings by Kay and on

my sinfulness, fabricated by Michael

Flechtner. He’s very big in the States.

I have two left: “Greed” and “Glut-

tony”, I think. But I didn’t have any

space to hang them, so they’re in

the sale.

‘I mean, every inch here is covered.

That’s by Gerald Laing; that’s by

Tracey; that’s a Peter Blake. And I’ve

got a massive photo of the Queen by

Chris Levine, and a crocheted lizard

crawling down the wall by Joana

Vasconcelos. I’ll keep them. But I

might let one of my Duggie Fields

go. As a fellow maximalist, I’m sure

he’ll understand. Also, [the dealer]

James Birch says Duggie is due a

revival, so it would be nice to get the

saleroom ball rolling.

‘I’m finding selling things as ad-

dictive as I used to find buying them.

It’s like when you fast at a health

farm; the pain turns to pleasure. In

fact, once the house is overflowing

again, I can’t wait to do another sale.’

The Amanda Eliasch sale is on

17  September and 15 October at The

Swan at Tetsworth. theswan.co.uk

Above, the sitting room at Cheyne Walk.

Right, Amanda at home, with her Mark

Quinn sculpture, 2011

Clockwise from left,

cabinet by Mark

Brazier-Jones; an

armchair, formerly

owned by Tamara

de Lempicka; and

wall sconces by

André Dubreuil

away in. And I might sell some corsets

that I never wore, even if they do

remind me of old love stories.

‘You see, I’ll be a woman of an un-

certain age next year and so it really is

time to have a clear-out. I’ve got three

sex chairs by Mark Brazier-Jones –

don’t you love the stirrups? But who

needs more than one? Besides, I like

living in the present. That’s why I’m

selling that shirt the YBAs created for

me. They’re of an uncertain age, too,

and I want young people to brighten

up my life, not old-age pensioners.

‘I photographed them for a book

in 2003, then had them all to stay

at the place [my ex-husband] Johan

and I had near St Tropez. There

was Tracey Emin, the Nobles, Polly

Morgan, Mat Collishaw, Paul Fryer

• I gave them scrambled ostrich eggs
  for breakfast – and on the last day,
  they had got this big white shirt and
  drawn ink pictures and dedications
  all over it. One of my best presents
  ever. There’s a picture of me wearing
  it and dancing round the garden!
  ‘Neons? Yes, I also did a show of
  them a few years ago, on the theme

‘It really is time to

have a clear out,’

says Amanda Eliasch

BYS TA NDE R

SOCIETY

Tatler October 2019 tatler.com

Life of the party

Amanda Eliasch talks

Tim Willis through her

sale of the century

G oodbye to

all that

10-19BYST-SocietyAmandaEliasch.indd 54 08/08/2019 12:54

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