Worthless second-rate kitsch

I’ve always been aware that some of the things in our house came from Mentmore when the estate was sold-up in the 1970s. Thirty years ago country house sales were not the big events they are now (media exposure, glossy sale catalogues, rock stars outbidding each other). We still have the Mentmore sale catalogue - it’s just a long list of items, separate price estimates (all incredibly low), a few black and white photographs of the more important lots.

Thirty years ago Mentmore was apparently considered an ugly Victorian house full of worthless second-rate kitsch. The National Trust wasn’t interested in taking it on (in those days the National Trust supposedly believed good taste didn’t survive the year 1837). All of the Mentmore collection was sold off and would be impossible to reassemble again.

Historical environments such as Mentmore can be very vulnerable. Once the objects are dispersed they are gone for good. It makes me wonder what things today will be considered valuable in (say) 2035.