Based on an original by Antonio Mor in the Prado, Madrid, the painting showed Mary wearing a jewel given to her by Philip of Spain in the year of their marriage. It sold for £4200 against a £2000-3000 guide in the June 13 auction.
Outside the collection, the highest price was paid for a portrait of an unknown sitter, dating back to the 16th century and consigned from a Suffolk country house. Against a punchy guide of £10,000-15,000, it sold to a trade buyer for £9000.
A handsome oil study of a bay hunter from 1851 by one of Britain’s leading equine painters, John Ferneley (1782-1860), drew one of the biggest bidding battles of the day.
With a label for The Leger Gallery in London, the 2ft 9in x 3ft 7in (84cm x 1.1m) oil on canvas sold for £11,000, nearly four times its top guide.
