Lord Northampton has married five times.

She married Lord Northampton in 1967 and divorced him in 1973.

Lord Northampton survived his wife by twenty years and died in September 1897, aged 78.

Sotheby's said Lord Northampton bought the vessels in Switzerland between 1981 and 1987.

Lord Northampton married Maria, daughter of Joshua Smith, in 1787.

Lord Northampton died childless at an early age and was succeeded by his younger brother, the eighth Earl.

Sources close to Lord Northampton report that Sotheby's has refused an offer of $585,000 to cover its expenses.

As for the legal fees, Lord Northampton's lawyer said the auction house had not properly itemized those expenses.

"We have no knowledge of what's really involved," said a lawyer for Lord Northampton, who would speak only on condition of anonymity.

The auction house decided to withdraw from the sale when its December 1990 contract with Lord Northampton came up for renewal.