Sir Stanley Spencer’s belongings sold by grandson at auction

Items that belonged to one of the leading figures in British art between the World Wars, along with some of his work, have been sold at auction.

Some of Sir Stanley Spencer’s sketchbooks, a palette and a Bible given to him while he served as a soldier in World War One were amongst those put up for sale by his grandson John Spencer.

Mr Spencer said he was struggling for space for all of the items, having grown up with them in Cookham, Berkshire.

Sir Stanley became synonymous with the village, where he was born, and his most famous works are perhaps biblical scenes he set there.

“[The items have] been left in the family. I grew up with them in Cookham. I am a Cookham boy; they were in our house when I grew up,” Mr Spencer, whose mother Unity was also an artist, said.

Other work auctioned off at Dreweatts in Newbury on Thursday included work by Mr Spencer’s grandmother Hilda Carline, who Sir Stanley divorced in the 1930s.

“It’s just stuff we had. I had lots of the pictures of my grandfather, grandmother, my mother. And I’ve lived with it all of my life. I have had lots of it on my walls,” he added.

“It’s a responsibility looking after them all and it takes a lot of space and it’s time for them to find new homes.”

Portrait of Mrs Carline, Sir Stanley’s work of his mother-in-law Anne Carline, sold for £11,430.

A long letter Sir Stanley wrote to Hilda Carline in 1937 on wallpaper following the breakdown of their marriage sold for £6,350.

He had filed for divorce and went onto marry artist Patricia Preece a week later. But that marriage was never consummated and Preece lived in Sir Stanley’s house with her mistress.

Sir Stanley’s palette sold for £3,048. It was the first one to have been sold at auction since one bought by David Bowie sold for £11,000 in 2016.

The Bible Sir Stanley received on signing up to the 9th Battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment sold for £889 and of two sketchbooks, one sold for £4,445. The other failed to sell.

For Mr Spencer, the items were sold simply to make room.

“We’ve still got sketchbooks and notebooks and other bits and pieces,” he said. “I have got loads of letters on file that I have got to work through.

“There are masses of material and projects still to do. This is just finding new homes for interesting and varied works.”