London – Items from the estates of Michael Winner, the British filmmaker, writer and personality, and Geoffrey Sawyer, the long-standing assistant and printer of Cecil Beaton, are amongst the highlights of Bonhams' Collections sale running on Bonhams.com until 16 December 2024. The sale will also offer the selected contents of a Holland Park residence decorated by the celebrated Nicky Haslam.

The Collections will be available to view at Bonhams Knightsbridge from 11 – 16 December.

Charlie Thomas, UK Group Director for House Sales and Private & Iconic Collections at Bonhams, commented: 'We are delighted to be offering such an exceptional selection of items from the collections of Geoffrey Sawyer, the assistant and printer of Cecil Beaton, and the filmmaker Michael Winner. Both collections provide an incredible insight into the life and work of their owners, from Cecil Beaton's royal portraits to Winner's annotated shooting scripts. We are also very excited to share selected contents from a London townhouse decorated by interior designer, Nicky Haslam, for every admirer of elegance, whimsy and masterful curation."

An important archive of works by Cecil Beaton from the estate of Geoffrey Sawyer

Cecil Beaton (1904-80) remains one of the most renowned photographers of his generation, celebrated for his photographs of the Royal family. Geoffrey Sawyer (1933-2022), his assistant and printer, and a photographer in his own right, owned a fine and varied collection of Beaton's work, from Royal portraits and portraits of his family to fashion drawings and oil paintings. Now, Sawyer's important archive of works by Beaton – and a number of photographs of the artist taken by his assistant – are being offered at auction for the first time. Leading the collection is a rare painting by Cecil Beaton, Portrait of Picasso, estimate: £8,000-12,000. A rare oil portrait among his portfolio of photographs, Beaton captures the artist's likeness with loose brush strokes, building colour and dimension on the canvas. Video footage shows Beaton in his studio bringing the canvas over to his easel before resuming work on the portrait.

Writing about Sawyer's collection in the latest issue of Bonhams Magazine, Hugo Vickers comments:

"Cecil was himself an elegant, entertaining and occasionally waspish figure in international society. He was intensely observant. Truman Capote wrote it was inconceivable a camera would be invented to encapsulate all that Cecil actually saw.

In 1983 Audrey Hepburn told me: 'Owning a really fine Cecil Beaton photograph, it's like owning a beautiful painting.' The Geoffrey Sawyer collection is a rare opportunity, unlikely to be matched again."

Additional highlights include:

• Cecil Beaton, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Seated, on the occasion of Princess Margaret's wedding to Anthony Armstrong Jones, 1960. Estimate: £800-1,200

• Cecil Beaton, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in ceremonial robes as Sovereign of the Most Nobel Order of the Garter, against a backdrop of Windsor Castle, 1955. Estimate: £800-1,200

• Cecil Beaton, The Prince of Wales (now King Charles III) (2). Estimate: £300-500

• Cecil Beaton, Nancy Beaton as a Shooting Star, 1928. Estimate: £300-500

Selected items from the estate of Michael Winner

Also included in the Collections sale are selected items from the estate of Michael Winner, the British filmmaker, writer and personality. The collection features an exceptional selection of art, including two fine etchings by Pablo Picasso, as well as bronze and alabaster figures, furniture, and a number of meticulously bound shooting scripts annotated with the director's 'on-the-move' edits. These rare scripts provide an in-depth insight into his film-making process, with the sale offering examples from his earliest films in the 1960s to his final film, Parting Shots, 1997. A highlight of the sale is Michael Winner's Director's Chair, which was made for him in Italy while he was working on The Games in 1970. It is offered with an estimate of £1,000-1,500.

Other highlights include:

• A George I cut gesso and giltwood centre table in the manner of James Moore, circa 1720, estimate: £8,000-12,000

• Arthur Rackham, Illustration from Siegfried & The Twilight of The Gods, 1911, estimate: £8,000-12,000

• Pablo Picasso, Sculpteurs, Modèles et Sculpture, from La Suite Vollard, 1933, and Sculpteur et son modèle avec un groupe sculpté représentant un taureau attaquant des chevaux, from La Suite Vollard, 1933. Both works have an estimate of £5,000-7,000

• A.A. Milne, Complete Set of Pooh Books (4), first editions, 1924-1928. Estimate: £2,000-4,000

A Nicky Haslam Interior

The sale will also offer the selected contents of a Holland Park residence decorated by the distinguished interior designer Nicky Haslam (b.1939). Employing his signature style, Haslam transformed the space over six months into a whimsical Rococo-style haven inspired by European country houses. The exquisite selection of pieces offered in the sale encapsulates his venture to create 'that Nancy Lancaster quality of the colour hanging in the air'. Haslam sourced or designed this selection of furniture, prints and mirrors to carefully curate such a space. Included in the sale is an exemplary large French carved and stained gesso mirror, with an estimate of £800-1,200.

Additional highlights include:

• A large pair of carved and white painted pier mirrors, in the George II Rococo style, estimate: £1,000-1,500

• A French painted commode, 19th century, in the Louis XVI style, estimate: £800-1,200

• A pair of green and gilt decorated pyramid bookcases, after a design by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, estimate: £800-1,200

3 December 2024