Items belonging to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, including rare works of art and personal items, have gone up for sale at auction after an unidentified landfill worker salvaged them from a storage unit.
“The exact circumstances of how these items were disposed of are unknown, although it is typical for storage companies to dispose of the contents of the drives when the accounts are closed,” said Mark Wilkinson, auctioneer at Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers in Essex, England. he said of the collection.
“There are some historical objects in the collection, items that point towards some of the important relationships and events in Margaret Thatcher’s tenure as prime minister.”
The rare collection of art pieces and personal belongings is a 22-inch-tall cast bronze bust of President Ronald Reagan, who was close friends with Thatcher during their overlapping administrations.
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Reagan may have given him the bust during his state visit to the US after the end of the Falklands War in 1982. The statue had a “fuzzy” signature and was dated “-82”.
A large bronze and plaster bust of President Ronald Reagan and an oil painting of Margaret Thatcher seated in a blue dress in a green armchair. (Zachary Culpin/BNPS)
The statue was estimated to fetch £700 (approximately $850) at auction: it ended up selling for a whopping £9,000, or just under $11,000, far more than any of the other items on offer at the collection.
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The landfill worker found the items in the early 2000s when they were removed from storage and sent to the landfill, following standard protocol. Shocked by what he had found, the worker took the items home for safekeeping.
Another prominent item is a photograph that the 22nd SAS Regiment gave to the former prime minister after the successful storming of the Iranian embassy after the siege in 1980. (Zachary Culpin/BNPS)
After his death, the man’s son has decided to put the items up for auction.
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The collection also included a rare black and white photo of Thatcher flanked by three members of Britain’s elite SAS wearing gas masks and assault rifles. The photo was inscribed ‘To Mrs Thatcher of 22 SAS Regt’.
A painting of a study of a kilim fabric suspended on a door, with the presentation inscription ‘Mrs. Thatcher, Remembering you Forever’ was also part of the sale (Swords/BNPS)
The 22nd SAS Regiment successfully freed 26 hostages at the embassy in London after a six-day siege, significantly boosting Thatcher’s profile at the time.
The photo, which is estimated to cost around £600 ($750), sold for more than double £1,500 (just over $1800).
Sworders estimated that the best-selling item would have been a painting of Thatcher seated in a blue dress in a green armchair, with a brass plaque reading: “From a true friend and admirer with best wishes on your birthday, October 13, nineteen ninety five”. .”
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Despite the very clear and personal nature of the piece, and the signature of Professor Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, at the time the future Prime Minister of Indonesia, the piece sold for just over £1,100 out of an estimated £700. .
