AGATHA CHRISTIE'S LOST DIAMONDS DISCOVERED IN OLD SUITCASE ARE OFFERED FOR SALE AT BONHAMS Our Coverage Sponsored by Stribling and Associates
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A locked strongbox held the secret of Agatha Christie’s lost diamonds for years
Hidden treasure from the home of the nation’s much-loved author, Agatha Christie, comes to light at the Bonhams, Knightsbridge Jewellery auction on 8th October.
Amongst the trees that line the banks of the sparkling Dart estuary, stands Greenway, the handsome Devon home of Agatha Christie. Even after the murder-mystery writer has long departed, her house continues to reveal secrets of its own:
When a die-hard Agatha Christie fan, Jennifer Grant, took part in the 2006 house contents sale of the Greenway estate, she paid £100 for an old travelling trunk which had belonged to Agatha Christie’s mother. She had no idea that locked inside lay £10,000 worth of the Christie family jewels.
When the trunk arrived at her home, she found it contained a heavy strongbox which was locked shut and bolted to the base of the trunk, but no key was to be found. Years passed and the box remained sealed.
Mrs Grant said: "The strongbox made the trunk a great heavy thing, so it sat at the bottom of the stairs for years. I almost didn't want to open it because then the mystery would be over. When friends came round we would tip the trunk from one side to the other and listen to hear if anything rattled. If you were very quiet you could just about hear something light sliding inside".
It wasn’t until four years later that the owner of the suitcase was having building work done and saw the opportunity to wrench open the box with a crowbar. To her delight, inside she discovered a purse of gold coins, a diamond brooch and a three stone diamond ring.
"I had read Agatha Christie's biography and so I knew exactly what I was looking at." Mrs Grant continued, "They matched the description exactly. I was nearly hyperventilating!"
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The jewels are mentioned in Agatha Christie’s biography as pieces that were earmarked for Agatha and her sister Madge to inherit from their mother’s collection. Christie writes: “My mother’s valuable jewellery consisted of ‘my diamond buckle' and ‘my diamond engagement ring’…Madge was to have the diamond crescent, I was to have the diamond buckle…”
“…my mother sorted amongst an array of odds and ends…all these required hours of sorting before they were packed in the trays in the various trunks.”
The diamond 19th century diamond brooch is offered at £6,000-8,000
The diamond three-stone ring is offered with estimate of £3,000-5,000
The Greenway estate:
Agatha Christie described Greenway as, “the most beautiful place in the world” and it was there that she and her husband lived for the rest of their lives. The house then passed to Agatha’s daughter Rosalind who, in turn, lived there until her death in 2004. Greenway features in several of Christie’s novels with its secretive walled gardens, tennis court and boat house on the winding river which wraps itself around the property.
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is the world’s third largest auctioneer of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street and Knightsbridge; and a further three in the UK regions and Scotland. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Connecticut in the USA; and Germany, France, Monaco, Hong Kong and Australia. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 60 specialist areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments go to www.bonhams.com.
