Victorian and Traditional Pictures Looking Up!
The market for Victorian and Traditional pictures has recently started to rise,
prompting Daniel Goddard to review some fine pictures from the last major fine art
sale and ponder what might be in store for the growing group of 19th century pictures
being offered in the next.
A Pomeranian Cross and a Yellow Labrador in an interior, attributed to Lillian Cheviot
(fl 1890-1930), which is being offered in our next major picture sale in July 2013.
It seems the market for
Victorian and traditional pictures
is improving.
Over the last few years, this area of the market has been pretty flat. We have seen
good Victorian paintings with market values below what they were say ten, or even
twenty, years ago. This has not been a consequence of the economy or attitudes
towards prosperity, but is related to contemporary fashion and styles.
We often meet clients who are keen to sell a traditional picture or a collection
of Victorian paintings. The conversation regularly turns to the question of current
fashion, which is usually the reason the client is selling – their tastes and styles
have moved away from what we might call 'old fashioned' Victorian and have moved
towards a more modern lighter style; or they have a less fussy cluttered houses
and lifestyle which does not have room for lots of pictures.
William Oliver (1823-1901) - A Young Beauty (FS18/357) is a typical Victorian
picture that required £5,000 to secure at auction showing, along with many other
results, that the Victorian picture market is beginning to rise.
However, our last major picture sale saw some very promising results for Victorian
paintings such as the
William Oliver portrait of A Young Beauty
(FS18/357), which was secured for £5,000.
Oliver was born in 1823 and died in the same year as Queen Victoria, 1901. This
portrait by Oliver is typical with the subject being a beautiful, romantic
young lady. The quality of the painting is good, with soft and realistic skin tones
and complexion; with the anatomy and posture of the hands being equally well-executed.
So this Victorian painting, along with another dozen 19th century figure paintings
that all sold in our last
fine art sale,
gives us some confidence that the market is more active. (There is another charming
painting of a young beauty by William Oliver in our sale on 3rd July 2013.)
William Edward Webb (1862-1903) - Cornish Fishing Village (FS18/379) is another
Victorian picture with a subject matter that has a hard time in the market until
recently. However, this traditional picture sold for £3,400.
Away from figure painting, there was a good 19th century harbour view titled
A Cornish Fishing Village by William Edward Webb
(FS18/379), who was also a contemporary of Queen Victoria.
While the Oliver portrait had very obvious decorative appeal and always had a good
chance of doing well, paintings like the harbour view by William Webb seem to have
had an even tougher time in the market of late. So it was very encouraging that
this sold for £3,400.
Looking forward to our
next major picture sale
(on 3rd/4th July 2013) and perhaps spurred-on by the last results, we already
have a good looking group of traditional and 19th Century paintings.
Our view is that, with the right estimates, these should do well but still offer
good value to collectors who like the thought of a Victorian painting or two.
Highland Cattle and Sheep in an Upland Landscape by Charles Jones (1836-1892) is
carrying an estimate of between £3,000 and £5,000 in our next major picture sale.
Included in the sale is a very impressive oil painting of Highland Cattle and Sheep
by Charles Jones (1836-1892) with an estimate of between £3,000 and £5,000 and,
of a slightly later date, a dog painting attributed to Lillian Cheviot (fl
1890-1930), which has an estimate of £800-£1,200.
If the encouraging signs from the last sale for good quality Victorian paintings
continues, then these look attractive lots. If you would like to discuss selling
a single picture or a collection then please contact
Dan Goddard
in our
Picture Department.
- Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood
- Picture Auctions
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