A Duke's £2.5m car boot sale, including the racy dinner party table decorations you wouldn't expect to find in an aristocrat's attic

By DAVID WILKES
Last updated at 8:17 AM on 30th September 2010

For generations, his family has been at the centre of British political, social and artistic life.

Today, the Duke of Devonshire gave a fascinating insight into the privileged, exotic and sometimes eyebrow-raising lifestyle of his ancestors as he put thousands of family heirlooms up for sale.

In what is the largest ever house sale staged by auctioneers Sotheby's in the UK, he is selling off more than 20,000 objects, offered in 1,422 lots, which have been unearthed from storage at the family's country pile, Chatsworth House in Derbyshire.

Double dollies: A couple of odd-looking dinner party centrepieces worth between £100-£150 which will make up part of the Chatworth House sale

Everything must go: The Duke of Devonshire poses alongside some packing trunks, a rocking horse and a stuffed bird - all of which are due to go under the hammer

It is billed as an 'attic sale' - but the treasures found under the Duke's rafters are expected to fetch around £2.5million in total and are so numerous they fill a marquee half the size of a football pitch.

The family has included several avid collectors, and many of the items had lain undisturbed for years after being brought to Chatsworth from Devonshire House in Piccadilly.

Known as the centre of London society in the 18th century, that was where the family lived until it was demolished in 1920s. It has since been dubbed a 'lost palace of London'.

Treasures up for grabs range from rediscovered interior furnishings by some of Europe's greatest architects and deigners, to candelabras and bedposts, and other curios (including some slightly risque table decorations). Prices range from £10 to £300,000.

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