A few weeks ago we were contacted by a Society member with news of an interesting TEL related artefact being put up for auction. The provenance is given below:
‘Since 1998 I I have been the owner of an item that was once the possession of Lawrence. It is a relatively small ‘solid’ tan leather and very well worn suitcase type bag….the sort of thing that would now probably be called an ‘overnight bag’. Its’ measurements are approx. 22″ x 14″ and 6″ deep when closed.
The bag came to me when the daughter of an artist named Cosmo Clark contacted the Society in the late 1990’s and made it known that if any member wished to make a donation of a certain sum to a Charity of her choice they could have it and I was the first person to respond to that offer.
The circumstances of the ‘bag’ were that in 1922 Cosmo Clark was commissioned to make a portrait of Lawrence. (probably with a view to possible inclusion in his ‘Seven Pillars’ book) and Lawrence arrived for the portraiture-sitting with his Arab head scarf contained in the bag. However when it came time to leave, the handle broke slightly and so to all intents and purposes, TEL abandoned the bag to the artist and it was carefully preserved by him and his family from then on.’
The Lawrence Bag will be put up for auction on the morning of Monday 28th October at:
Richard Winterton Auctioneers, Fradley Park, Lichfield, Staffs. Tel: 01543 251081.
Anyone within the Society interested should log onto their website and prior to the auction, go through the procedure of expressing that interest. In any case the auction itself can be viewed ‘Live’ via their website The link to the auction is https://bid.richardwinterton.co.uk/auctions/9071/srric10438
Currently there are no details of the case/bag but they intend to publicise it further.