THE contents of a mansion owned by a Herefordshire antiques dealer has sold for more than £2 million at auction.

An international crowd was in Madley last Wednesday for the sale of the century at Great Brampton House.

More than 700 lots owned by Lady Pamela Pidgeon were sold in the biggest one-day sale of its kind, conducted by auctioneers Bonhams.

Private collectors and Russian oligarchs were in the audience and telephone bidders were on the line for the sale of furniture, ceramics and paintings.

And the highest price paid may have come from overseas - £120,000 for a portrait of Grand Duke Paul of Russia, later Tsar Paul I.

Lady Pidgeon is selling the 18th century house and its contents after retiring to Australia with her husband, Sir John Pidgeon. She amassed the collection over a 40-year period, having started her business from the back of a Morris Minor in the 1960s.

Charlotte Wood, Bonhams representative, said the auction had taken months to arrange and had attracted significant interest.

"There's a lot of international clients here because her clients came from all over the world," she said. "This house was an elaborate showroom - she sold the idea of an English country house and created a perfect sales environment."

For more details and pictures, see this week's Hereford Times.