Amongst a host of outstanding lots in the British, European and Sporting Art Sale on 19th March was ‘The Fortune Teller’ by William Powell Frith, one of the greatest painters of the social scene, which sold for £20,000 (plus buyer’s premium). William Powell Frith was born near Ripon, the son of a Harrogate hotelier; he excelled in capturing a broad cross-section of Victorian society from streetsweepers to the nobility in teaming panoramic scenes filled with beautifully observed detail.
Vigorous bidding secured excellent prices for a notable offering of portraiture, figurative and genre works in the sale. Selling well above estimate was an enigmatic and ethereal depiction of Cordelia, the youngest of King Lear’s three daughters, by Thomas Frank Dicksee, which sold for £13,000. An atmospheric interior with an elegant standing figure, possibly depicting a lady of Pompeii, by Jean-Baptist (James) Bertrand sold for £9,000, and a charming portrait of a Belle Epoque lady by the Circle of Sir Hubert Von Herkomer sold for £5,000. Interesting early portraits included a c.1630 ‘Portrait of a Shepherdess’ by the Circle of Salomon de Bray (sold for £6,000), and a ‘Portrait of a Noblewoman’ by a Follower of Marcus Gheeraerts (sold for £4,500). A circa 1700 French School depiction of ‘Christ Displaying his Wounds to his Disciples’ also sold well at £8,000.