It’s a bittersweet moment for Downton Abbey fans: As the final installment of the story draws closer by way of the premier of the third feature film, an auction of set props signals the end of the beloved early 20th-century drama.
The Julian Fellowes-created show first aired in the UK in 2010. Following the lives of the Crawley family, headed by the Earl of Grantham, the drama unfolds the day after the RMS Titanic went down in 1912. The show ran for six seasons, with 52 episodes, ending in the year 1925. But it has since had the kind of long-tail interest that few other TV dramas get with two feature-length films, the first of which was released in 2019. Now, 15 years after the first episode aired, the final installment—and third film—is on the horizon, and titled, fittingly, The Grand Finale, premiering in September.
As if to confirm that it will, actually, be the end, 120 prop pieces are to be auctioned off at Bonhams, in London, starting on August 18th and running through September 16th. The pieces on the block comprise a spectrum of fan-enticing fodder. For example, the Grantham family car, a 1925 Sunbeam: «The 20/60 was considered by many to be far superior to the Rolls Royce,” reads the auction footnotes. “First seen in Season 2, the Sunbeam was used throughout Seasons 3, 4 and 5, and in all three films.” The estimated price is between £25,000 (roughly $33,000) and £35,000 (or $47,000).
The auction will also include wardrobe pieces like Jim Carter as Carson’s “three-piece morning suit” (£600 — £800) and Dame Maggie Smith as Violet Crawley’s blue dress (£1,000 — £1,500).
Perhaps most excitingly for fans looking to infuse their homes with Downtown Abbey style are the bell wall (£5,000 — £7,000)—»Overlooking the servants’ dining hall it represents the in-between space between ‘upstairs’ and ‘downstairs’ and acts as a springboard for much of the action in the series”—and an oak dresser (£1,000 — £1,500) used in season 1 that comes “dressed with a collection of kitchen props, to include a cream enamel colander; a carved and turned beech and glass egg timer; a copper adjustable student’s lamp; a pine butter pat; an oak letter rack containing hand written ingredient lists, recipes and household planning calendar created by the Graphics Department; two pewter jugs; a selection of enamel kitchenware, including a large mixing bowl; and a large quantity of ramekins.»
All proceeds from the auction will go to Together for Short Lives, a charity for children with life-limiting conditions in the UK. Alongside the auction at Bonhams will be a free exhibition of Downtown Abbey history and ephemera.
