Peter Stephen Winkworth (1929-2005)
of 2 Campden Hill Place, Kensington, London; "Unrivalled" Collector of Canadiana
He was born in London to an English father (who was the brother and son of two well-known collectors of Oriental Ceramics) and a wealthy Canadian mother. He was educated in Montreal and at Bishop's College School, Lennoxville, before reading history at Wadham College, Oxford. He took a step back from his career as a stockbroker with a Canadian firm in London after losing a leg in a boating accident off Monte Carlo, and during his convalescence he began collecting "Canadiana". While still in his wheelchair, he was married in New York to Franca Lombardi, daughter of the Italian First World War fighter ace and pioneer aviator Carlo “Francis” Lombardi.
After being fitted with an an artificial leg, he embarked on a six-week tour of Europe with New York print dealer Harry Shaw Newman who introduced him to the key contacts and destinations in the world of print and antiquarian collecting. He struck a remarkable figure with his gold tipped cane and became a familiar character on the auction circuit in London and Montreal. In 1969, at a Christie's auction in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Montreal, Brian McKenna wrote: "Peter Winkworth was there… Surely you know Peter. Has a house like an art museum in London. Youngish, about 35. Spends his life jetting around the world from art auction to art auction. Scads of money. Terribly hard to please. 'If Peter comes to your auction,” confided a nice lady from Christie’s, the auction people, 'then it’s made.'" Between 2002 and 2005, he negotiated the sale of 5,200 pieces from his collection to the National Archives in Canada. The remainder (including all of his most valuable acquisitions) fetched $5-million when sold at Christie's auction house in London in 2014.
After being fitted with an an artificial leg, he embarked on a six-week tour of Europe with New York print dealer Harry Shaw Newman who introduced him to the key contacts and destinations in the world of print and antiquarian collecting. He struck a remarkable figure with his gold tipped cane and became a familiar character on the auction circuit in London and Montreal. In 1969, at a Christie's auction in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Montreal, Brian McKenna wrote: "Peter Winkworth was there… Surely you know Peter. Has a house like an art museum in London. Youngish, about 35. Spends his life jetting around the world from art auction to art auction. Scads of money. Terribly hard to please. 'If Peter comes to your auction,” confided a nice lady from Christie’s, the auction people, 'then it’s made.'" Between 2002 and 2005, he negotiated the sale of 5,200 pieces from his collection to the National Archives in Canada. The remainder (including all of his most valuable acquisitions) fetched $5-million when sold at Christie's auction house in London in 2014.
