A silver-gilt dagger presented to Lawrence by Sherif Nasir after the capture of Akaba and later left in the keeping of Lady Kathleen Scott after she sculpted Lawrence in 1921 was sold for £122,500 at Christie’s saleroom in King Street, London, on July 15 (hammer price plus commission).
Reflecting its historical significance (“the last of Lawrence’s Arabian daggers known to survive in private hands,” according to the sales catalogue), it had been estimated to sell for up to £90,000.
A set of Arab robes that Lawrence also left with Lady Scott was sold on the same day for £12,500.
The dagger and robes have remained with the family of Lady Scott (later the 1st Lady Kennet following her remarriage in 1922) since she made her statuette of Lawrence, as detailed in two articles in the T. E. Lawrence Society’s Autumn 2014 Journal (Vol. XXIV, No. 1) – T. E. Lawrence: His Arab Clothing and Daggers by Joe Berton and ‘An Acute Attack of Lawrencitis’: Lady Kathleen Scott’s Friendship with the Lawrence Family by Alison Jolley. They have only since appeared in public for the National Portrait Gallery and Imperial War Museum exhibitions on Lawrence. They were put up for sale at Christie’s following the death of the 2nd Lady Kennet, Elizabeth Young, in 2014.
It is interesting to reflect that Lionel Curtis paid £125 for the gold dagger that he bought from Lawrence in 1923 (later presented to All Souls College, Oxford). Lawrence spent the proceeds carrying out repairs to Clouds Hill.
A third dagger that Lawrence wore during the Arab Revolt, given to him by Sherif Abdullah, was presented as a gift to the Howeitat chiefs, and presumably will never reappear.