Selling at £13,200 and setting an auction record for the artist, was Tom Scott's (1854-1927) The Border Widow`s Lament, right, a work representing a definite shift from Scott's usual depictions of scenic valleys and everyday rural scenes.
The numerous landscape paintings by the Selkirk-born artist command a fair following of collectors, but this 1901 watercolour, showing a despairing woman weeping over the body of a man killed in a Border raid, created a swell of strong bidding before it was finally knocked down to a collector living in the Border regions.
"Scott's works vary in quality," said auctioneer Frank Forrest. "We've had about 150 pictures by him in the last 10 years, but this was by far the best I've seen.
"He mainly painted landscapes, but he also did a few historical scenes of Border incidents."
The 2ft 1in x 2ft 7in (63 x 78cm) painting was signed and dated and had a Border ballad inscribed on the reverse.
The colours and condition were described as being very good.
The picture was consigned by another collector who had apparently kept it in Ireland. The work had previously appeared at Bonhams Edinburgh in December 2003 where it sold at £11,000. The £2200 increase from that sale a year ago represents a healthy price rise of 20 per cent.
Indeed, every one of the 19 Tom Scott paintings offered by John Swan managed to find a buyer, with the average price being just over £3500.
Frank Forrest said he was delighted with these sums. "They continue to reflect the ever increasing popularity of his works, particularly in the Borders areas," he said.
However, a more regular style Tom Scott picture, a 91/2 x 13in (24 x 33cm) view of Selkirk that had sold for £3500 at Bonhams Edinburgh in April last year, failed to reach the same heights, making £2600.
Alex Capon
