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£3m of Elizabethan masterpieces emerge as Lord Harris sells off the family silver
John Vincent and Benedict Moore-Bridger30 Oct 2008
THE multimillionaire who is London's biggest sponsor of city academies is parting with £3 million of silver from his family collection.
Carpetright founder Lord Harris of Peckham is set to add to his fortune when the items are auctioned at Christie's next month,
Items under the hammer include a rare Elizabethan ostrich-egg cup and cover, known as The Whitfield Cup, which is expected to fetch up to £800,000. The carved 26in-high object was made in 1590 by Elizabeth I's jeweller, John Spilman of London, at a time when ostrich eggs were prized. Also on sale are:
●An elaborate Elizabethan bell-shaped salt cellar estimated to fetch up to £300,000.
●A 17th-century nautilus-shell cup worth £150,000.
●A pair of Queen Anne silver-gilt cups and covers on salvers, set to make £600,000.
●Queen Anne casters made by George Garthorne of London in 1703, thought to be worth £200,000,
●Five 16th century German silver "calendar" beakers with an estimated price of £200,000.
●An Elizabethan silver basket, the earliest known of its kind, which could realise £350,000.
The collection, to be sold at the auction house in King Street, St James's on 25 November, has been amassed by Lord Harris over 30 years. Christie's specialist Henry Williams-Bulkeley said: "The highlight must be the Tudor and Stuart pieces. The work gives a tour of the greatest European goldsmiths over 300 years."
The collection also includes modern British and Impressionist art.
Lord Harris, now 65, left school at 15 to run the family market stall and two shops in Peckham. He set up Carpetright in 1988.
His Harris Federation sponsors seven academies in south London. It hit the news when Lord Harris reportedly offered prospective staff discounts at Carpetright stores.
Ministers say academies are transforming education standards but critics claim they give too much power to unaccountable sponsors.
John Vincent and Benedict Moore-Bridger
