In the quiet corners of the world's most eclectic homes, treasures await—each with a story, a history, a life once lived. An upcoming auction raises a compelling question about the journey of collections and the legacy of the collectors behind them.
The antique dealer, Warner Dailey, owned a Mercedes estate that he drove around London and the South of England, filling it with objects ranging from Russian objets d'art to the weird and wonderful, like the sperm whale's jaw mounted on its roof. This passion was sparked during a childhood family trip to Shelter Island (New York), where a visit to a house filled with ethnographic treasures and a hanging sperm whale's jaw inspired Dailey to someday create his own collection. Above, he is pictured after acquiring his very own sperm whale's jaw from the now-closed Gasworks restaurant in Chelsea (London).
The Warner Dailey's Collection, a kaleidoscope of history, art, and the profoundly personal, stands as a testament not only to a life richly lived but also to an uncommon choice in the realm of collectors.
Collector, dealer and interior decorator Robert Kime passed away in August 2022. By October 2023 Dreweatts hosted a three-day auction of his personal collection. As expected, it was incredibly beautiful (you can still view or order the catalogue here). And if you know his work, it was incredibly moving. Yet, I couldn’t stop thinking that the only reason why I could bid on a picture, which I always associated with Kime, his work and his Warwick Square flat in London, was that he is now forever gone.
With thousands of bidders taking part from around the world, the auction secured £9.64 million, with a 100% sell-through rate. The pre-sale estimate for more than 900 items from the “Robert Kime: The Personal Collection,” was £1.2 - 1.5 million. Kime himself famously focused on how well the pieces worked together rather then their individual monetary value.
Kime’s talent for creating beautiful moments in spaces was unparalleled. And his clients were among the wealthiest in the world, including the British royal family. I can’t help but wonder, would his collection have fetched more than seven times its estimate had the auction taken place while he was still alive? Was there an element of greed in trying to secure the final pieces of his legacy, knowing that his work became finite with his death and the auctioned pieces were from his personal spaces? Or did we all just want a piece of genius? The auction’s atmosphere was at times a frenzied scramble that left me uncomfortable - would this fervour have existed had he been alive at the time of the auction?
Sworders is hosting a sale of over 300 Warner Dailey’s personal items on 22nd February. In the interview unveiling the collection, he talks about getting older:
‘I have to think about having a bit of a clear-out and parting with some of these things. For a lot of collectors, their items only get sold when they’ve passed away. So, I thought it’d be more enjoyable to let some of these things go now, while I have some sort of control of and get to experience the enjoyment of seeing other people end up with them, adding them to their collections. It means I can pass on the stories and the histories as far as I know, to somebody who then hopefully will do some more research or be as thrilled with them, just as I was.’
Dailey’s decision leads to a very poignant question: Why does the journey of beautiful collections often begin only in the silence following a collector's death? Many of the collections we find at auctions can be seen as direct consequences of someone’s passing. Perhaps the beauty of antiques lies in the idea that we never really own them; we are merely custodians. Every collection we build is an opportunity to breathe new life into an object, pair it with another or pass on its story (hear the crocodile story in Dailey’s interview, starting at 4:13 in the video above).
Dailey's narrative, interwoven with the threads of passion, curiosity and the inevitable passage of time, challenges us to reconsider the fate of our most cherished possessions. In doing so, it invites us into a broader conversation about legacy, memory and the value we place on things we hold dear.
See you at the auction?
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THE COLLECTION
‘I think the only real advice about collecting is never collect stuff because you think it’s going to be valuable, […] just be really in love with what you’re doing and let it take you somewhere. That’s the great thing, these objects will totally change your life and change the way you look at things.’
Warner Dailey
I love how full these walls are. And everything, every single object has a story. My top three items from the collection, as pictured above, are:
An industrial steel mould for a tablespoon - 20th century, stamped 'Table Baguette Preparation', a whisper from the past, where industrial meets simplicity of everyday. Its allure lies not just in its function but in the stories it holds, a tangible link to the craftsmanship that shapes our everyday yet remains unseen.
Victorian watercolour, study of lemons, by Mary Cummins - together with further two still lifes of apples, oranges and lemons. Immersed in the sun-drenched warmth, Mary Cummins' watercolour study captures the lemons' luminous hues and textures. This painting might just be the splash of perpetual summer you've been longing to add to your home. I’ve noticed the apple hiding between the two halves of lemon only after a while. It makes me like it even more - I like the less obvious.
'The Warner Dailey table' - a folk art marvel carved in pine during the 1970s, is steeped in the rich tapestry of carved objects and its own history. Each groove and image, from dinnerware through a chessboard to a 1930s motor car, tells a story of communal creativity. Guests who carved the table include art historian Bevis Hillier, US artists Jinx Rendich and Howard Hastings, HH Maharajah of Jodhpur and Malcolm S Forbes. Its legacy is further enriched by the people it hosted - Vanessa Redgrave, Tony Richardson, Mia Farrow, Art Garfunkel and Lisa Halaby (Queen Noor of Jordan) amongst others, making it a treasure trove of cultural intersections and a celebration of the vibrant era it encapsulates.