Chatsworth sale nets £6m

AN auction which was billed as “the attic sale of a lifetime” raised more than 6m with many of the lots exceeding pre-sale estimates many times over.

The event, held by the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth House in the Peak District, offered “rare and rediscovered” items from the homes of the Dukes of Devonshire.

Pieces which sold on the final day were items relating to the Mitford sisters and the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire Deborah Cavendish, who was one of the Mitford girls.

A ruby and diamond bow-shaped brooch, with the words “L’amour en fait le lien” (“love binds together”) was one of the biggest sales of the final day. The brooch belonged to the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire and sold for 8,500 – more than 100 times the pre-sale estimate of 80 to100.