A piece of Belgravia history 

‘Chips’ Channon’s table goes for more than £75,000 at auction

Sir Henry ‘Chips’ Channon’s monumental dining table sold for more than 10 times the estimate at an auction at Sotheby’s on 20 September.

The table was the centrepiece of Channon’s sumptuous dining room at 5 Belgravia Square, where the Chicago-born shipping magnate and Tory MP famously entertained some of the most glamorous society figures of the day. 

Originally estimated at between £5,000 and £7,000, the table eventually went for £75,659, including buyer’s premium. Sotheby’s UK Chairman James Stourton said: “The house and dining room at 5 Belgrave Square have an important place in the history of 1930s taste.”

Channon commissioned the 25-foot-long Bavarian Rococo-style table for an event at which he hosted King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson in 1936. Other famous guests included Noel Coward and Lady Diana Cooper. The table was crafted by StÈphane Boudin, who later decorated the White House for Jacqueline Kennedy.

Three sets of mirrored double doors, which echo the dining table’s mirrored surface, went on auction at the same time.   

The flamboyant dining room is said to have taken its inspiration from the Amalienburg in Munich, with its silver chairs upholstered in sea-green silk to match the curtains and reflect the Bavarian national colours.