Haul of splendour

A house contents sale is always a delight. A summertime contents sale set in a beautiful Cotswolds manor house, owned by a renowned Belgravia decorator is an unbeatable treat.

Such is this month's auction at Wormington Manor, near Broadway, Worcestershire, of the decades-worth of elegant clutter amassed by Christopher Rowley, whose interiors business in Lower Sloane Street was a celebrated source of serious kit and whimsical detail.

Rowley's clients included a roster of gorgeous locations and grand names. He worked on interiors at Inverary Castle (home of the Duke of Argyll), Locko Park, near Spondon, Derbyshire (home of the Drury-Lowe family) and Kedleston Hall, near Derby (home of the Curzon family). Although, some of his projects dictated a conservative approach, in private, his taste was a riot.

Photographs of Wormington Manor, the home he created with his partner, George Hughes-Hartman, who was for many years head of the Works of Art department at Sotheby's, show every nook crammed with some gloriously stylish piece of sculpture, ceramic or elaborately ornate table, laden with bibelots.

The ensembles create a fairly accurate sense of the chap, by all accounts, a true English gent, with great style, an impulsive, warm nature and an unerring eye for quality. He was an inveterate weekend entertainer who will be greatly missed by the lucky circle of friends that was accustomed to pass warm summer weekends in the gardens at Wormington.

Among the 850-odd lots, there are fine examples of furniture, ceramics and glass, silver, textiles and carpets, and works of art, as well as assorted practical but elegant pieces.

Prices range from the stratospheric to just under £100, and quality is uniformly excellent. Stars of the sale are from Rowley's collection of English and Continental furniture, including a rare, early Louis XV kingwood and marquetry commode, circa 1735, with an extravagantly dappled marble top, estimated to fetch £20,000-£30,000 (lot 14).

For its considerable size and weight, it is a remarkably pretty piece, mounted with gilt-bronze loop handles ending in ragged sunflowers and featuring fruitwood inlay, depicting flower-filled vases and butterflies.

The best of house sales is that you get a peek at the top lots and a chance to bid on a selection of affordable pieces, too. Among the attractive, decorative and relatively inexpensive lots is a 19th century carved giltwood plant stand with a marble top (lot 546, £120-£180).

Other practical pieces include a pair of handsome Victorian cast-iron door stops, circa 1850, in the form of rearing horses on plinths, plus another, a rampant lion supporting a shield (lot 10, £250-350). Lighting includes some rather splendid brass and cut-glass wall lights, with scrolled brass arms and candle holders (lot 161, £300-£500).