Provenance, provenance and more provenance accounted for at least half, some would say much more, the sales total of £6,280,864 at Sotheby's three day, 20,000 item, 1,400 lot, 'Attic' sale, held by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, which contained many lots of architectural salvage saved from the demolition in 1925 of the London Georgian mansion, Devonshire House in Piccadilly, and moved to storage at Chatsworth in Derbyshire. Through the marriage of the 4th Duke to Charlotte Boyle, daughter of Lord Burlington, Chiswick House became part of the Devonshire's estate, and some of the lots at the sale came from there. Other lots, such as inlaid Ashford marble by local craftspeople, were the effects of several generations of Devonshire's at Chatsworth.
 
Devonshire House, built in 1740 as a palace for entertaining by William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire, to the designs of William Kent, was sold in 1920 to a pair of developers - described at the time as vandals - who wanted to build a hotel and block of flats. The house had lain empty for years - a result of the indebtedness of the 9th Duke, who was the first owing death duties, to the tune of £500,000, as well as inheriting the debts of the 7th Duke. All that remains in-situ of the old Devonshire House are the entrance gates and sphinx-topped piers fronting the Piccadilly entrance to Green Park, and the wine cellar which is the ticket office of Green Park underground station.
 
The sale, held on 5 - 7 October, attracted several thousand bidders - online, telephone and in person at Chatsworth - one of whom was, according to the London Evening Standard, Martin Levy of Blairmans, bidding on behalf of English Heritage for items associated with Chiswick House: a huge, possibly Flitcroft drawing of Chiswick House during construction, a William Kent polescreen, four Tilliard fauteuils brought into the house by Duchess Georgiana, four James Wyatt chairs and a bureau, all costing more than £120,000.
 
Top lot was one of five William Kent-attributed fireplaces - a c1735 white marble chimneypiece, 6ft high by 8ft wide, enigmatically carved, possibly by John Boson, with a prominent, almost Chinoiserie, strapwork frieze, catalogued as Greek-key but not really, with a heifer mask tablet - the iconography of which could not be explained - which came from the saloon of Devonshire House. Boson or Bossom was mainly a woodcarver whose work includes the reredos in Canterbury Cathedral, and the screen and organ gallery at Westminster Abbey, as well as marble chimneypieces. The lot, which sold for £565,250 including premiums, was estimated at £200k-£300k.
 
A c1735, Kent-attributed, gilt and mahogany six-panelled door and doorcase, 9ft 5ins by 5ft 3ins, labelled 'His Grace, The Duke of Devonshire KG Chesterfield, Dukes Sitting Room' and 'Dukes Study', sold for £32,450 against a low estimate of £8,000.
 
A sandstone stone trough, 5ft by 3ft ins by 2ft, of no historical note, sold for £5,250 (est. £1k).
 
A pine box, neatly remade no doubt by one of the estate workers, containing around 15 servant's bell pulls, c1840 and later, of gilt brass, glass, porcelain and wood sold for £3,250 (est. £300)
 
The Duke of Devonshire said, "There has been a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for these wonderful items, and it's great to know that wherever they may end up they have now been given a new lease of life. The funds raised have exceeded our expectations and will allow us to accelerate a number of projects at Chatsworth and our other estates, including improvements to buildings, new visitor experiences and green initiatives."
 
Harry Dalmeny, Sotheby's deputy chairman, who took the rostrum during the sale, said, "It was an auctioneer's dream."