An original pencil on paper drawing of Conservative politician Iain Macleod by Sir Cecil Beaton CBE (1904-1980) on the reverse of sketches of a male and two females.

With studio sale stamp in lower right

The picture measures 25cm x 22cm and is mounted but unframed.

Provenance:
Miss Eileen Hose, Cecil Beaton's secretary.

There were actually two relevant Cecil Beaton estate sales of items bequeathed to his devoted secretary and companion Eileen Hose in the 1980s:

* 7 June 1984 — Cecil Beaton Studio Sale, the property of Miss Eileen Hose. This was a substantial dispersal of material from Beaton’s studio at Reddish House, Broad Chalke, Wiltshire, including drawings, designs and other works. Christie’s records still describe individual works as coming from this sale.

* 21 June 1988 — Stage and Costume Designs, Fashion Drawings, Landscapes, Portraits and Sketch-Books by Sir Cecil Beaton, C.B.E. from the Estate of the Late Miss Eileen Hose. The catalogue was 74 pages and covered a huge variety of Beaton material.

Cecil Beaton left his archive of royal portraits to her. After her death, she bequeathed the royal photographic archive to the V&A in 1987.

The 1988 sale wasn’t necessarily the whole of her Beaton inheritance. Material went to several institutions, including the V&A and National Portrait Gallery, while other things entered the market through Christie’s.