Cheffins

British watercolours depicting the beautiful county of Devon and painted during the medium’s golden age drew eager bidding at Cheffins of Cambridge (22.5% buyer’s premium).

The latest batch of period portraits to pass through Cheffins featured several from a late-16th century property in Great Chesterford, Essex. Passed by descent, the quartet was led by an attractive English School portrait of Queen Mary I (1516-58), an oil painted on an oval 2ft x 21in (62 x 53cm) canvas.

No two jobs are the same for the art shippers offering a bespoke service at the top end.

Three modestly valued works in regional sales, including an oil on canvas of Bude in Cornwall by Charles Collins (1851-1921).

T Crowther & Sons was founded in 1880 in Fulham and was well established before the First World War. The company was split into two sections in the 1940s: Albert Crowther trading from Syon Lodge and T Crowther & Sons in Fulham.

Barbara Jones joins a growing band whose peacetime work is also now in strong demand.

A look at the latest saleroom appointments, including Roseberys appointing a former director and works of art specialist at Christie’s.

Among Horace Hone’s (1756-1825) most renowned depictions was the 18th century actress Sarah Siddons.

There is little like a new house-record to leave an auctioneer smiling but there was considerably more for Luke Macdonald to celebrate following Cheffins’ (22.5% buyer’s premium) spring sale.

British portraiture with pedigree provided plenty of action in a strong sale of pictures at Cheffins (22.5% buyer’s premium) of Cambridge.

Led by the portrait of an Italian mastiff by il Guercino (1591-1666), dogs took a starring role in the Cheffins' March 8 sale. The delightful oil of a stocky ‘Cane Corso’, perhaps the artist’s own dog, overshot a £80,000-120,000 estimate and was knocked down at £570,000 – the highest auction price in the English regions so far this year.

Magazine by ‘heathen staff’ sells for 10-times top estimate in the city where it was produced...

The run of recent six-figure auction sums in the English regions now includes Cheffins posting a house record in Cambridge.

As celebrations get under way to mark the centenary of women gaining the right to vote (or over-30s at least), the Modern British art market is showing a growing appetite for 20th century female artists.