The Roman Venus from Newby Hall, known as the Jenkins Venus was sold to an unidentified bidder at Christies yesterday for just under £8 million, a world record price for antiquities. The 2,000 year old marble was originally in the famed Barberini collection in Rome. It was bought in 1765 by William Weddell, the chatelain of Newby Hall, from Roman banker Thomas Jenkins and shipped to the Yorkshire stately home to be the centrepiece of Weddell's sculptural collection. Newby Hall's architect Robert Adam was commissioned to create a domed sculpture gallery to show off the Weddell collection of antique marbles of which the Venus was the most prized piece. William Weddell's descendent and current chatelain of Newby Hall has sold the Venus to raise funds to pay for the stately home's recent restoration to its original beauty and future maintenance.
The house retains an admirable sculpture collection,(admirable despite the loss of its Venus), a tapestry room to show off its Gobelins, fine Chippendale furniture commissioned for the house and overlooks 25 acres of superb award winning gardens sloping down to the River Ure.
Newby Hall Sculpture Park
A recent addition to Newby Hall's attractions for the visitor is a modern sculpture park within the grounds. First opened in 2001 the park provides a welcome venue for sculptors to show their work, an example that other chatelains of privately owned stately homes could follow with their patronage. Works in various media by some 30 artists are displayed, among whom Lynn Chadwick and Jane Rickards impress with their inspiration and forceful command of their medium.
Illustration: White Eagle. Sculpture by Jane Rickard. Newby Hall, 2002.
Newby Hall, its gardens and sculpture park are open to the public each year from end March until end September.
London, 10 June. The Antiques Season
London is at its most thrilling in June. Jubilee celebrations gave the capital a memorable kick start of pomp, pageantry and party that will surely be remembered as historic sights and sounds of the century.
Could it be that the wildly successful Prom at the Palace on 1st June followed by the improbable Party at the Palace on 3rd June will become regular features of London and Palace life? These events and the 24,000 ticket holding spectators may have caused havoc to the carefully manicured Palace lawns, but did wonders for the Queen's popularity.Photo: PA
The party is over now and the 1 million flag waving people who crammed the Mall from the Admiralty Arch at Trafalgar Square to the gates of Buckingham Palace for Monday's pop concert and fireworks and Tuesday's pageantry and carnival have gone home to watch Britain's football fortunes in the World Cup on television. Now we Londoners can settle down to enjoy June's annual rich feast of sporting, cultural and social events.
