Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire: Sotheby's

A remarkable woman of our time, Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire (1920-2014) led a life as extraordinary as that of her siblings, the legendary Mitford sisters. The Duchess was a woman of elegant taste and sensibility. The wonderful objects with which she lived illustrate so much of her story, from exquisite jewels gifted by her husband to a rare copy of Brideshead Revisited personally inscribed by her friend Evelyn Waugh; all tell of a life well-lived. Painted by Freud and photographed by Weber, Testino, Beaton and Parkinson, it is the contents of her final home, The Old Vicarage at Edensor on the Chatsworth estate, which perhaps paint the most vivid final portrait. This historic auction will offer fine and decorative art, jewels and the Duchess of Devonshire’s library.