Bond Girl Anouska Hempel selling the contents of lavish family mansion

Anouska Hempel is set to be auctioning off the contents of her Wilts home, which she sold last August.

Although she rose to public recognition as an actress and Bond Girl, the 81-year-old is also a world-renowned figure in the interior design industry and had transformed her family home into an architectural masterpiece epitomising her iconic style.

Some of the highlights of the auction taking place next month at Dreweatts Auctioneers & Valuers include a carved marble statue believed to be from the Roman era roughly around 170AD and is estimated to fetch between £3,000 and £5,000.

One of Anouska’s paintings, Portrait of a Boy and Girl by George Spencer Watson, is reportedly valued at up to £12,000.

A pair of the actress’s contemporary kilim upholstered chairs are believed to be worth between £700 and £1,000.

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Dreweatts’ Head of House Sales and Collections, Joe Robinson, highlighted that this is a unique opportunity for design aficionados to “capture works that are AH approved”.

Unlike many actresses, Anouska’s dream career was sidetracked by her starring roles in cinema.

After arriving in the UK at the age of 21, the New Zealand-born star quickly became a highly sought-after actress with her jaw-dropping looks earning her enviable roles throughout the next 10 years.

In 1969, her acting career reached an all-time high when she appeared alongside George Lazenby in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service as a Bond Girl, portraying an Angel of Death.

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However, the rising star soon decided she’d had enough of the acting industry and wanted to return to her true calling.

Speaking about her acting career in 2015, Anouska told Vanity Fair: “It was pretty silly, but good fun at the time.

“Being a rather second-rate actress, I finally thought, I’d rather be a designer. I knew I could make things look good.”

Using her cinema earnings, Anouska was able to buy a townhouse in South Kensington and opened a hotel called Blakes which was a resounding success, attracting almost every type of high-end clientele, from rockstars to aristocrats.

The former actress went on to establish three more hotels, all of which featured her now iconic and unmistakable interior design flair, and was ranked by Architectural Digest as one of the top 100 designers and architects in the world in 2002.

Just last year, Anouska was presented with the prestigious Andrew Martin Lifetime Achievement Award by Princess Michael of Kent.

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