The statistics available for the sale on January 31 looked encouraging (although the auction house does not release sale totals), with 87% of the select 78-lot sale finding new homes.
Melissa van Vliet, who joined Chiswick’s picture department from CSK towards the end of last year, said: “We are seeing a lot of former CSK clients coming through our doors, particularly our new South Kensington branch, looking for a new place to buy and sell things.”
The top lot was a typically commercial half-length portrait of the lavishly attired King William III, catalogued as ‘studio of’ Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723).
The 3ft 1in x 2ft 7in (94 x 79 cm) oil on canvas had appeared in 1979 at Christie’s London, catalogued as ‘by the 17th century Dutch portraitist Willem Wissing (1656-87)’.
Estimated at £3000-5000, it was knocked down at Chiswick for £7000.
A small collection of early devotional Flemish pictures drew solid interest, including a well-executed c.1600 Mater Dolorosa oil panel in the style of Belgian painter Aelbrecht Bouts (1450-1549). It bettered hopes of £1000-1500 to sell for £5000.
Among the marine pictures to catch the eye was an 1805 painting by Thomas Luny (1759-1837) of East Indiamen lying at anchor under stormy skies off the island of St Helena. Last bought at Christie’s London in July 1953 for £10 10s, it sold at Chiswick towards the lower guide at £6500.
