Family heirlooms traced by the late Antiques Roadshow expert Hugo David Montagu Morley-Fletcher from the stately home where he was born are to be sold at auction. Yester House in East Lothian was owned by the Hay family, later the Marquesses of Tweeddale, from the 15th century until the late 1960s.
The historical landmark was the birthplace of Morley-Fletcher in 1940, and it influenced his career choices as a specialist in ceramics and antiques. He died in 2022. Morley-Fletcher traced heirlooms and artworks from a collection which was split up when the house was sold in the late 1960s after the death of his grandfather, the 11th Marquess.
He repurchased them and amassed a collection of Old Masters and ceramics, along with family portraits. Six centuries of family heirlooms will be sold at auction by one of his descendants in March.The works will be offered in Roseberys Old Master, British and European pictures sale on March 12, and ceramics will be offered in the auction house’s fine and decorative sale on March 11.
Morley-Fletcher was appointed head of Christie’s European ceramics department at the age of 29 and spent 40 years working at the auction house. He was an expert on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow for more than 25 years, was a founding member of the French Porcelain Society, and wrote four books on pottery.Dominic Simpson, a close colleague for a decade at Christie’s, said: “Hugo had a natural eye for art, frequently cutting straight to the key points of an object.
“His understanding extended beyond ceramics to encompass pictures and other decorative arts and he had the ability to identify the best artwork in a room filled with things, whether it was ceramic or something different.”
The collection includes Old Master paintings of ancestors hanging in Yester House for centuries, including a portrait of John Hay, 8th Lord Hay of Yester, later 1st Earl of Tweedale (1595-1654), attributed to the Dutch painter Adam de Colone (1572-1651). The painting, dating from 1628, was loaned on exhibition to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 1975. It has an estimated price tag of £2,000-£3,000.
A Meissen porcelain lobed dessert-plate mentioned in Morley-Fletcher’s book, Meissen Porcelain In Colour, is also in the sale. The plate, from 1735, is painted with two chinoiserie figures on a seashore with trees on cliffs and distant ships.
The plate is an “Earl of Jersey type”, which refers to the distinctive type associated with the Villiars family, and is expected to sell for between £1,500 and £2,000. Lara L’vov‑Basirov, head of Old Master, British and European pictures at Roseberys , said: “The collection of Hugo Morley-Fletcher reflects a lifetime of collecting and connoisseurship from a true polymath.
“Spanning beautiful Old Master portraiture to rare porcelain, the collection reflects his deep intellectual interest in owning a fascinating range of paintings and works of art.”
Anna Evans, associate director and head of furniture and works of art and fine and decorative sculpture and clocks at Roseberys, said: “Hugo Morley-Fletcher was a tour de force in the ceramics world, publishing a number of specialist books in the field.
“This collection reflects the variety of his taste and his insatiable appetite for deepening his knowledge. Many of the major European porcelain manufacturers are represented, making this a significant opportunity for discerning collectors to acquire the works of a true connoisseur.”