Lowood House auction: £120k dish among items to be sold

Lowood House, in Melrose, had been the home of the Hamilton family since 1947.

Following the death of Alexander Hamilton last year, the family have decided to pass on the contents to new owners.

The auction, due to be held on October 6 at 10am by Edinburgh-based Lyon & Turnbull, will see 419 lots go under the hammer.

READ MORE: Borders man who admitted assaulting his wife ordered to carry out unpaid work

Topping the list of items in terms of price is lot 64 – an unrecorded Italian dish attributed to Nicola da Urbino.

The dish is dated to approximately 1520-23 and has a guide price of £80,000-120,000.

The oldest piece up for sale is a 16th century large oak coffer, valued at between £1,000-1,500.

Meanwhile, the house was part of a report discussed at a full Scottish Borders Council meeting yesterday (September 23).

According to the report, the council acquired the house as part of the Lowood Estate in 2018 and is “close” to being able to secure occupation. There has yet to be a decision on the use of the house going forward.

The report states that appraisals will be undertaken to look at the options for its short, medium and long term function.

READ MORE: People attending A&E may be told to ‘wait in the car’, says NHS Borders

It is the council’s vision that Lowood House will “attract visitors and tourists to the area”.

On the auction, Gavin Strang, managing director and head of collections for Lyon & Turnbull said: “We’re delighted to be offering the contents of Lowood House at auction.

"There is a wonderful story behind so many of the eclectic objects, collected internationally but brought to this Borders home, on the banks of the Tweed, by two Scottish families - the Crum Ewings and the Hamiltons, both of whom had rich and fascinating backstories.

"Now people around the world will have the opportunity to purchase an amazing piece of history through the live online auction.”

See all the items going under the hammer here.