Landscapes and portraits by Sir Oswald Birley and Lady Birley will be sold at auction

The Birleys found inspiration in their surroundings at home at Charleston Manor near Seaford, East Sussex, where they welcomed friends including Sir Winston and Lady Churchill. Sir Oswald’s paintings of Charleston, including scenes of the lake, dining room and pond, are among eight of his pieces being auctioned at Cheffins in Cambridge on 20 September. A portrait of Lady Birley, dated 1939, will also be sold. There will also be 15 works by Lady Birley, including still lifes and a painting of Sir Winston and Lady Churchill playing cards in the loggia.

Sir Oswald and Lady Birley were the founders of a sprawling, creative dynasty. Their son Mark Birley was the owner and founder of Annabel’s, named after his wife Lady Annabel (later Goldsmith), as well as Mark’s Club and Harry’s Bar. His passion for establishing exclusive private members’ clubs was inherited by his son, Robin Birley. Maxime, Comtesse de la Falaise, worked with Elsa Schiaparelli and was hailed the ‘only truly chic Englishwoman’ by Cecil Beaton. She married Alain Le Bailly de La Falaise in 1946. Other descendants include Lucie de la Falaise who married Marlon Richards, son of the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards. The couple had three children, including Tatler cover star Ella Richards.